The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark includes ministries in Bergen, Union, Hudson, and Essex counties. In 2019, New Jersey’s attorney general announced an investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic priests. That same year, New Jersey’s five dioceses disclosed the names of all the priests in New Jersey that have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse. The dioceses named 188 priests, with 63 of them from the Archdiocese of Newark.
The Archdiocese of Newark struggles with many scandals related to sexual abuse by priests. In 2017, a court sentenced former Priest Kevin Gugliotta to eleven months in prison after pleading guilty to disseminating child pornography. Another high-profile case involved former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who served as Archbishop of Newark from 1986 to 2000. Numerous victims, many of whom were young seminarians at the time of the abuse, have come forward to claim that McCarrick sexually abused them for years between 1993 and 2016.
In July 2018, the New York Times published a news story chronicling a pattern of McCarrick’s sexual abuse of teenage boys and male seminarians. Reports conducted by the Church revealed a widespread cover-up or apathy by church officials who chose to ignore complaints about McCarrick for years. After an investigation and church trial, the Catholic Church finally removed McCarrick in 2019.
Between 2005 and 2007, the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark paid out settlements totaling $180,000 to two priests who claimed that McCarrick abused them.
In 2018, an article by the Catholic News Agency stated that the rector of St. Andrews Hall college seminary faced termination after accusations surfaced about the clergy member placing a hidden camera in a young priest’s bedroom. The Catholic News Agency also reported that six Newark priests came forward with allegations of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese. Despite the Catholic Church vowing to be transparent concerning sexual abuse allegations, Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin purportedly told priests not to talk to journalists about the story.
In early 2021, a former parishioner filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Church, claiming that, in the 1970s, former Newark Archbishop Peter Leo Gerety sexually abused her when she was only five years old. The molestation allegedly occurred in the archbishop’s bedroom in the church rectory, where he reportedly touched her sexually and masturbated in front of her. According to the lawsuit, Archbishop Gerety told the victim not to tell anyone because the allegations would hurt the girl’s mother.
Archbishop Gerety died in 2016. The church offered to settle the claim with the woman, who is now 49, for $5,000, but she turned down the offer and sued, claiming $50 million in damages. Numerous prior lawsuits against the church also accused Archbishop Gerety of covering up sexual abuse by priests who sexually abused children under his watch. The lawsuit names Gerety’s estate, the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and other church entities as defendants within the Archdiocese.
The Archdiocese of Newark lists the following clergy as “credibly accused” of sexual abuse: Robert Alcamo, Jorge Batista, James T. Benedetto, John x. Bergeur, Vincent Bonelli, John. C. Bouton, Michael Campanlonga, John Caparelli, James A. Cary, Robert Chabak, Peter Cheplic, Dennis Cocozza, Absalom Coutinho, Arturo Crespo, Hadmels R. DeFrias, Joseph DiPeri, John J. Donohue, Thomas F. Duffy, Edward Eilert, David Ernst, Joseph P. Fagan, John Flanagan, Michael C. Fugee, Lawrence Gadek, Richard Galdon, Manuel Gallo-Espinoza, William Giblin, Robert Gibney, Augustine Giella, Alan Guglielmo, Kevin Gugliotta, Charles Hartling, Eugene Heyndricks, Gerald (Carmen) Howard (Sita), Charles Hudson, John Komar, Kevin Kortina, John Laferrera, Francis T. Maione, Robert Marotta, Kenneth Martin, Dcn. John R. McAulay, William McCann, Theodore McCarrick, Daniel (Horatio D.) Medina, Richard Mieliwocki, John Morel, Robert Morel, Dcn. Thomas Mousley, John Nickas, Michael O’Brien, Thomas H. Reilly, Jesus Orlando Rengifo, Joseph Rice, Gerald Ruane, Mario Salazar, Thomas Stanford, Edward Stanley, Robert Stauffer, Gerald Sudol, Robert Svec, Michael M. Waters, Robert Zasacki.
New Jersey lawmakers passed the New Jersey Child Victims Act (NJCVA) in December 2019. This most recent piece of legislation amends prior laws governing child sex abuse claims. The NJCVA extends the statute of limitations or time restrictions for filing a claim for damages up to age 55 or seven years after discovering traumatic physical or emotional injuries stemming from the abuse. Additionally, the NJCVA provides a revival window for childhood victims of sexual abuse to file a civil lawsuit, no matter their current age or how long ago the abuse happened. Finally, the law enables survivors of childhood sexual abuse to seek justice against the perpetrator of the abuse and against the institutions that allowed it to persist, holding them liable for the heinous acts and subsequent cover-up.
Now is the time to act before your opportunity to seek justice, compensation, and closure expires. If you or someone you loved experienced sex abuse at the Archdiocese of Newark, contact the lawyers at Herman Law today for a free consultation.
- Fr. Robert Alcamo
- Fr. Jorge Batista
- Fr. James T. Benedetto
- Fr. John X. Bergeur
- Fr. Vincent Bonelli
- Fr. John C. Bouton
- Fr. Kevin Bray
- Fr. Michael G. Campanalonga
- Fr. Michael Campanlonga
- Fr. John M. Capparelli
- Fr. James A. Carey
- Fr. Joseph F.X. Cevetello
- Fr. Robert H. Chabak
- Br. John B. Chaney
- Fr. Peter A. Cheplic
- Br. Robert Coakley
- Fr. Dennis E. Cocozza
- Fr. Arturo Crespo
- Fr. William S. Crouse
- Br. John H. Dagwell
- Fr. Hadmels R. DeFrias
- Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio
- Fr. Joseph B. DiPeri
- Fr. Salvatore DiStefano
- Fr. John J. Donohue
- Fr. William J. Dowd
- Fr. Thomas F. Duffy
- Fr. Edward J. Eilert
- Fr. David A. Ernst
- Fr. Joseph P. Fagan
- Fr. Eugene Fanelli
- Fr. John L. Flanagan
- Br. Thomas Cuthbert Forda
- Fr. Michael C. Fugee
- Fr. Lawrence Gadek
- Fr. Richard Galdon
- Fr. Manuel Gallo Espinoza
- Maria Michael Garner
- Archbishop Peter Leo Gerety
- Fr. William Giblin
- Fr. Robert G. Gibney
- Fr. Augustine Giella
- Fr. Charles P. Granstrand
- Fr. Alan Guglielmo
- Fr. Kevin A. Gugliotta
- Fr. Michael H. Hansen
- Fr. Bruce Harger
- Fr. Charles W. Hartling
- Fr. Charles W. Herr
- Br. Jerome Heustis
- Br. Andrew Thomas Hewitt
- Fr. Eugene P. Heyndricks
- Fr. Charles J. Hudson
- Br. Vincent Jerome
- Fr. John E. Komar
- Fr. Kevin Kortina
- Fr. James F. Kuntz
- Fr. John J. Laferrera
- Fr. Rene Cavalcanti de Lima
- Fr. Francis T. Maione
- Fr. Albert Mark
- Fr. Robert G. Marotta
- Fr. Kenneth L. Martin
- Deacon John R. McAulay
- Fr. William McCann
- Fr. Horacio Daniel Medina
- Fr. Maurice F. Meyers
- Fr. Richard J. Mieliwocki
- Fr. Robert J. Morel
- Deacon Thomas Mousley
- Fr. Anthony G. Nardino
- Fr. John P. Nickas
- Fr. Michael J. O’Brien
- Br. John L. O’Sullivan
- Br. Timothy Joseph O’Sullivan
- Fr. Contardo Angelo Omarini
- Fr. Robert J. Patterson
- Fr. Keith F. Pecklers
- Fr. Victor Phelan
- Fr. Thomas H. Reilly
- Fr. Jesus Orlando Rengifo
- Fr. Joseph P. Rice
- Br. Donald Richard
- Fr. Gerald P. Ruane
- Br. Peter Russell
- Fr. Mario Salazar
- Sr. Eileen Shaw
- Sister Alice Bernadette
- Sister Andre
- Sister Regina
- Fr. Carmen Sita
- Fr. Leonard P. Spanburgh
- Fr. Thomas A. Stanford
- Fr. Edward Stanley
- Fr. Robert Stauffer
- Fr. Gerard J. Sudol
- Fr. Robert Svec
- Fr. George Trabold
- Fr. Peter M. Walsh
- Fr. Michael Walters
- Fr. Edward F. Wojtycha
- Fr. Benedict Worry
- Fr. Robert E. Zasacki