NEW JERSEY
ABC News
By KATIE ZEZIMA Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. May 4, 2013 (AP)
The agreement with prosecutors, reached after a priest’s conviction on charges that he fondled a teenage boy were thrown out, was unequivocal.
The Rev. Michael Fugee could return to ministry in the Archdiocese of Newark, but was barred from having unsupervised contact with minors or a job that requires him to oversee or minister to children under the age of 18.
But despite the legally binding agreement, Fugee was a presence at a church youth group, traveling with teenagers to Canada on a mission to help disabled Catholics, hearing confessions from teenagers and participating in retreat trips.
This week’s disclosure that Fugee continued to work with children has roiled the faithful in New Jersey, opening up wounds from the church abuse scandal that started in Boston more than 10 years ago and raising questions about how closely the archdiocese monitored Fugee’s activities.
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