NEW JERSEY
BishopAccountability.org
Summary of Case: Michael Fugee was ordained a priest of the Newark archdiocese in 1994. He was accused in 2001 of having fondled a boy beginning when the boy was 13 years-old in 1999. Fugee admitted to police that he derived sexual gratification from the contact with the boy. He was placed on administrative leave and, in April 2003, was found guilty of aggravated sexual contact. Fugee was sentenced to a lifetime of parole and was ordered to register as a sex offender. In 2006 the conviction was overturned on appeal, due to prejudicial statements at the first trial and a problem with the judge’s instructions to jurors. To avoid a retrial, Fugee signed an agreement that he would never again work unsupervised with children, and that he would undergo sex offender therapy. By 2009 Fugee was back in ministry, as a hospital chaplain very briefly – until hospital administrators learned of his past – and in parishes. He was also given chancery assignments. In April 2013 it came to light that Fugee had been assisting with overnight teen retreats at a Colt’s Neck parish, including hearing teens’ confessions. Parishioners expressed dismay at learning of his past conviction and agreement not to work with children. Fugee resigned from active ministry May 2, 2013.
Ordained: 1994
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