NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on May 21, 2013
It’s a relief to see the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office step in and do what the Catholic Church could not: protect children from a priest who confessed to sexually groping a 13-year-old boy.
The Rev. Michael Fugee, whom Newark Archbishop John J. Myers allowed to take kids on retreats and hear their private confessions, was arrested this week for violating a binding agreement that bars him from working with minors. Fugee is now charged with contempt of a judicial order, a fourth-degree crime that carries a maximum prison term of 18 months.
But remember, he wasn’t the only one who signed off on this agreement and then broke it. The archdiocese did, too. The prosecutor should press forward with this investigation and consider charging Myers with contempt, as well. This, however, would require a finding that Myers knowingly violated the agreement. Has he been questioned? He should be.
So should others in his inner circle. There can be no free pass for the hierarchy here. At the very least, Myers should step down. His behavior has prompted widespread outrage even within the church, because he repeatedly protected Fugee.
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