NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger
By Ben Horowitz/The Star-Ledger
on February 07, 2014
MORRISTOWN — A 39-year-old Mendham man who admitted destroying a Mendham church monument to victims of clergy sexual abuse was sentenced today to two years of probation.
Gordon Ellis pleaded guilty last month to a reduced charge of criminal mischief as a disorderly persons offense, admitting that on Nov. 18, 2011, he used a sledgehammer to wreck the 400-pound millstone memorial outside St. Joseph Church.
Ellis, who has a history of mental illness, will be required to undergo mental health supervision and counseling by Morris County’s probation department and pay $7,500 in restitution to the church, under the sentence announced by Superior Court Judge Mary Gibbons Whipple in Morristown.
“There are no other things in his past that lead us to believe he will do this again,” Whipple said.
Ellis told the court he has “no excuse” for what he did, but he offered no explanation.
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