NEW JERSEY
Cliffview Pilot
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli today accused the Archdiocese of Newark of not keeping its agreement to monitor a former Wykoff associate pastor who was allowed to continue working as a priest after admitting that he groped a 13-year-old boy.
The prosecutor’s comments come amid the announcement of an agreement between his office and Michael Fugee that spares him prison time in exchange for his permanent removal from the priesthood and the condition that he never work in a job that puts him in contact with minors.
Fugee, who could have gone to prison for up to 18 months, admitted that he repeatedly violated a court order to stay away from children.
Also going back on its word, Molinelli said, was the archiocese, which agreed six years ago to supervise Fugee in order to help spare him a trial.
“[I]t has not appeared that the Archdiocese made any significant effort to adhere to the terms of the MOU such that, at this juncture, we no longer have confidence in its ability as a signatory to honor the clear intent of the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding,” Mollinelli said in a statement.
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