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  Priest Charged in Abuse of Teen Gets Probation

The Record
June 8, 1995

A Haitian priest who had been serving in the Trenton Diocese has been sentenced to three years of probation on charges that he had sexual contact with a 13-year-old parishioner.

Superior Court Judge Thomas DeMartin accepted a plea agreement Tuesday from the Rev. Jean-Level Eliscard, 31. Under terms of the agreement, Eliscard may return to his native country, but must be supervised by the bishop of Haiti.

Eliscard had been charged with attempted aggravated sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child, and child abuse. Under the agreement, he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual contact.

The charges stem from a Sept. 27, 1994, incident when Eliscard allegedly visited the teenager while she was alone at her home in Hamilton and was molesting her when her father arrived and interrupted him.

Eliscard was arrested in November 1994 at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he tried to return to Haiti. Acting on a parishioner's tip, police stopped Eliscard about an hour before he was to board a plane.

He may return to Haiti, but must be supervised by the bishop of Haiti. Monthly reports on Eliscard must be sent to the Mercer County Probation Department. Parish officials did not say whether Eliscard definitely would go back to Haiti.

 
 

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