HUDSON (NJ)
Hudson
February 22, 2019
By Mike Montemarano
The list of priests accused of abusing children is “expanding,” said Cardinal Joseph Tobin.
Editor’s note: Due to the statute-of-limitations and the failure of many Church leaders to report wrongdoing to police, most of the priests listed have not been tried and therefore are only alleged to have committed the crimes of which they are accused.
This month, Roman Catholic Church leaders in New Jersey shed new light on allegations of sexual abuse by priests that have been kept hidden for nearly a century, naming men in their clergy accused of preying on children, in some cases for decades.
Beginning on Feb. 13, the five New Jersey archdioceses, which oversee Catholic parishes in the state, publicized previously buried records of 188 clergy members who were “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children. The records ended the official silence and secrecy that cloaked the systemic atrocities within the established church.
Many of the priests “credibly accused” of sexual assault will escape prosecution because New Jersey’s statute of limitations for charging them with sexual abuse will have expired. And to pursue a civil case, victims must report the abuse within two years of their 18th birthday, according to current law.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who heads the Newark Archdiocese, said the investigation is not completed. “The disclosure of this list of names is not an endpoint in our process,” he said.
The revelations were preceded by a number of events. Last year a statewide New Jersey task force was created by the attorney general. In Pennsylvania, the Catholic Church was subject to a grand jury hearing in which more than 1,000 childhood victims of sexual assault connected to over 300 Catholic priests were uncovered. On Feb. 16, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a former Archbishop of Newark was stripped of his priesthood by Pope Francis.
The Newark Archdiocese, which oversees churches in Hudson, Bergen, Essex, and Passaic counties, released 63 records out of the 188 cases in the state. Some of the allegations date back to 1940.
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