NEW JERSEY
USA Today
JACKSON, N.J. — A Catholic priest who once ministered to a congregation here has taken a leave of absence following a sexting scandal with a man he reportedly thought was a 16-year-old boy.
The Rev. Matthew Riedlinger preached at St. Aloysius Church until August 2012, when he entered counseling following complaints of inappropriate cellphone text conversations with other adults, according to church leadership.
While in out-patient treatment, Riedlinger continued having sexual conversations, prompting the Diocese of Trenton to remove him from his parish. Last week, the diocese announced that Riedlinger had taken a leave of absence from the priesthood.
In 2011, Timothy Schmalz, 23, of Washington complained to the diocese in 2011 about Riedlinger’s behavior, saying the priest sexually harassed him, according to The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger. To expose Riedlinger, Schmalz pretended online to be a 16-year-old boy, recorded text message conversations last year between Riedlinger and himself, and later forwarded them onto the diocese, according to the newspaper.
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