LACEY TOWNSHIP (NJ)
Patch [NJ]
August 29, 2025
By Veronica Flesher
Two women say they were groomed and sexually abused by Fr. Lawrence Gadek, a former priest and Lacey teacher, in the 1970s.
Two lawsuits filed against the Lacey Township Board of Education and the Archdiocese of Newark claim that a former Roman Catholic priest turned teacher sexually abused two young girls while employed at Forked River Elementary School and Lanoka Harbor Elementary School.
The two girls, identified as F.H. and W.S. Doe to protect their anonymity, were abused by Fr. Lawrence Gadek from about 1977 to 1981, according to the lawsuits. Both women are represented by attorney Gabriel McGee.
Gadek, ordained in 1955, was identified by the archdiocese on their List of Credibly Accused Abusers. He has multiple alleged victims, according to the archdiocese, including a 2019 six-figure settlement for a woman who said Gadek sexually abused her multiple times in the early 1960s when he was a priest in Hillside. He was laicized, meaning his priesthood was revoked, but no criminal charges were filed.
The lawsuits say the sexual abuse began when F.H. was 8-years-old and W.S. was 6-years-old. The girls were sisters who were living with their grandmother at the time.
Gadek, whom the lawsuits claim already “had a reputation…for inappropriately touching minor girls” would remove F.H. and W.S. from class for “extra help” or “counseling sessions.”
During these sessions, the girls were asked sexually explicit questions, made to partially undress as Gadek took photos, instructed to masturbate, and groped/fondled by Gadek, according to the lawsuits.
In her first episode of sexual abuse, Gadek asked F.H. to pull aside her top so he could see her shoulder, which she did out of fear and because of Gadek’s position of authority, the lawsuit says.
“Thereafter, the sexual abuse progressed very quickly,” the lawsuit says. Gadek touched his chest and removed the girl’s shirt to fondle her breasts, according to the lawsuit.
Gadek told F.H. “you better not tell,” and she complied out of fear, the lawsuit says.
W.S. was frequently asked inappropriate questions that made her uncomfortable, her lawsuit says. She was often made to pull up her skirt and pull her underwear aside, according to the lawsuit. In one instance, she wore a dress with built-in shorts underneath, and Gadek became “very agitated and upset” when he saw the shorts, according to the lawsuit.
During one summer, Gadek visited the girls’ grandmother at home to have coffee and showed the woman headshots he had taken of the girls, according to the lawsuits. He then took the two girls and a friend of theirs to fold papers at Lanoka Harbor School. Eventually, he drove W.S. and the friend home but didn’t let F.H. leave the car, the lawsuits say. Instead, he took her back to school, alone.
When the grandmother found out she was “visibly angry” and took the younger sister with her to the school, where F.H. was alone with Gadek, according to documents. She brought the girls home.
Shortly after, both girls told their grandmother that Gadek was sexually abusing them, the lawsuits say. It is believed the grandmother told the school, and the abuse stopped, according to the lawsuits.
Both lawsuits say the women still suffer emotional and psychological trauma from the abuse. They accuse the district and archdiocese of being negligent and hiring Gadek to be around children despite knowing his history of sexually abusing children.