Former St. Barnabas Church Clergyman Named In Sex Abuse Lawsuit

By Josh Bakan
Patch
May 7, 2019

https://bit.ly/2J6QBG1

John R. Butler served at St. Barnabas in 1975, according to a lawsuit.

A clergyman who served at St. Barnabas in Bayville from 1974-75 was named in a lawsuit accusing more than 300 church leaders of sexual misconduct.

John R. Butler was accused of inappropriate conduct with a minor in a Long Island parish in the late '50s and early '60s, the Asbury Park Press reported in 2002.

Leaders of the Catholic Church in New Jersey revealed the names of priests "credibly accused" of sexual abuse on Feb. 13. The Church did not include Butler in their announcements.

The law firms of Jeff Anderson & Associates released the report with more than 300 people accused of sexual misconduct in New Jersey. The report contains the names of more than 100 additional clergymen that New Jersey dioceses did not release in February.

The attorneys believe the state's Catholic dioceses need to be more forthcoming.

Butler served at various churches in the Diocese of Trenton and Diocese of Metuchen from 1971 to 2002, according to the lawsuit. The Diocese removed Butler from the ministry on April 11, 2002.

The Church issued a statement in 2002 that one of its priests was on leave because the diocese received allegations he engaged in "inappropriate conduct with a minor." A diocesan spokeswoman confirmed to the Asbury Park Press that priest was Butler.

A Brooklyn man brought the allegations to the Metuchen Diocese and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office on Long Island. The man alleged he was molested as a choir boy and altar boy at St. Joseph's Church in Kings Park.

The man told the Asbury Park Press he made allegations to church officials as a teenager, but nobody did anything about them until he contacted the Metuchen Diocese.

After serving in Bayville, Butler led churches in Old Bridge and Colonia, according to the lawsuit. He worked at St. John Vianney in Colonia before he was removed from ministry.

Jeff Anderson & Associates also released the names of 52 Boy Scout leaders allegedly named in the organization's "perversion files" last month.