NEW JERSEY
The Record
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
LITTLE FERRY — Blasting law enforcement officials, an eyewitness Sunday disputed the Bergen County prosecutor’s allegation that a Catholic priest aimed an unloaded replica of a Civil War rifle at an 8-year-old boy last month. .
Richard Fritzky, an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, came to the defense of the Rev. Kevin Carter, 54, pastor of St. Margaret of Cortona Church in the borough.
“I neither saw Father Kevin raise the rifle nor threaten anyone,” said Fritzky, former president of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce.
At Masses on Sunday, parishioners also voiced support for the priest and applauded when he began the services by reading a statement maintaining his innocence. Carter told his congregation that the charges reflect misinterpreted “jesting” between him — a fervent New York Giants fan — and the boy, who came to church wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey. One churchgoer called the person who reported Carter to authorities a “Judas.”
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