VERONA (NJ)
Insider NJ
August 30, 2018
By Senator Joseph Vitale
https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/senator-vitale-calls-attorney-general-grewal-empanel-grand-jury-investigate-sexual-misconduct-catholic-dioceses-new-jersey/
Senator Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) issued the following statement on the recent grand jury report in Pennsylvania on clerical sexual abuse of minors.
In the wake of the release of a damning Pennsylvania grand jury report on six Catholic dioceses finding that 300 priests over more than 60 years sexually abused more than 1,000 minors and reporting that priests in New Jersey were involved in some of these crimes and allowed to continue in their ministries and have access to vulnerable children, I have requested a meeting with Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin to review the cases with full transparency.
These disturbing revelations come on the heels of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Newark and former bishop of Metuchen, being removed from ministry by the Vatican because of credible accusations of sexual misconduct.
Today, I am also calling on state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to empanel a grand jury, as was done in Pennsylvania, to confirm whether the generations of hidden sexual abuse uncovered in that state also occurred here. Given the wide scope of abuse found in Pennsylvania and the Vatican’s action against McCarrick, we must investigate now. Victims should not have to wait any longer for accountability and for justice. In addition, I ask that the Attorney General immediately set up a clergy abuse hotline where victims can safely and privately report abuse. This will help inform the Attorney General’s investigation and make sure victims know they are being heard in the short term.
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