NEW JERSEY
Forcechange

BY CHERI CHENG

Target: Archbishop John J. Myers

Goal: Condemn Archbishop for failing to prevent a priest who had been charged with sexual abuse from interacting with children

In 2007, the Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey signed an agreement stating that he would oversee one of his priest’s assignments to make sure that the priest never interacted with children unsupervised. Priest Michael Fugee is not allowed to interact with children after rumors circulated regarding his sexual affairs with young boys. Despite this fact, Archbishop John J. Myers failed to properly supervise Fugee, which angered the public when they heard about Fugee’s unsupervised trips with youth groups through the news.

In 2003, Fugee was convicted of criminal sexual conduct after the court found him guilty of manhandling a young boy’s privates during wrestling horseplay. However, this conviction was appealed three years later. Instead of going through another…