Diocese of Trenton Accused Priests

In recent years, victims of child sexual abuse by priests have come forward with sexual abuse claims against at least 30 priests in the Diocese of Trenton. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton includes Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties.

On February 13, 2019, New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses disclosed the names of 188 priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children since 1940. Thirty of those priests worked in the Trenton diocese. All priests have since died or faced removal by the Church. The dioceses released the list after New Jersey’s attorney general, finding the Catholic Church’s suspected decades-long cover-up of abuse troubling, created a task force to investigate child sexual abuse by priests.

In April 2021, a former parish member filed a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Trenton, alleging that Reverend Joseph Farrell sexually abused them from 1989 to 1990. According to the lawsuit, Farrell sexually abused the victim while Farrell was working in Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish in Atlantic Highlands.

The Diocese placed Farrell on leave from his current position as pastor at St. Isidore, the Farmer Parish in New Egypt, and reported the accusations to law enforcement. The victim, now 44, alleges in the lawsuit that Farrell abused him on more than 50 different dates while the victim was a student at the St. Agnes Catholic School. According to the victim, incidents of abuse by Farrell included:

• Giving the victim back massages after basketball games
• Rubbing his genitals in the church rectory
• Performing oral sex on the boy
• Masturbating in front of the boy
• Raping him

According to the lawsuit, the victim was only around 14 years old at the time of the ongoing abuse.

In 2019, in another horrific story of alleged child sexual abuse by another priest in the Diocese of Trenton, the Church settled a claim against Father William McKeone for purportedly abusing one of his parishioners. According to the allegations, while McKeone held an assignment at the St. Denis Church in Manasquan, he sexually abused the victim at least 30 times between 1975 and 1976 when the boy was around 13 to 14 years old.

The acts occurred in the sacristy of the Church and at a home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the victim, McKeone rubbed the boy from behind so hard that the boy could feel McKeone’s erect penis against the boy’s buttocks. McKeone also sodomized the boy.

Another Diocese of Trenton priest, Patrick Magee, now 77, previously assigned to Sacred Heart Church in Bay Head, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with sexually abusing boys when he was a seminary student in Ireland more than thirty years ago. In addition to Farrell, McKeone, and Magee, numerous other priests in the Diocese of Trenton faced accusations of committing horrific acts of abuse against minors in the Church.

There’s also a list on the website containing all 30 names of priests in the Diocese deemed “credibly accused” of sexual abuse. The following priests are named: Romanilo S. Apura, Ronald R. Becker, Richard Briestke, Gerard R. Brown, Francis D. Bruno, Charles J. Comito, Benjamin R. Dino, Manuel R.M. Fernandez, Thomas J. Frain, J. Gerald Griffin, Douglas U. Hermansen, Frank J. Iazetti, Vincent J. Inghilterra, Francis J.C. Janos, Leo A. Kelty, Patrick F. Magee, Terrance O. McAlinden, M. Francis McGrath, Joseph M. McHugh, William J. McKeone, Richard R. Milewski, Liam A. Minogue, Sebastian L. Muccilli, Robert J. Parenti, Joseph J. Prioli, Joseph R. Punderson, Thomas A. Rittenhouse, John E. Sullivan, Florencio P. Tumang, and Brendan H. Williams.

If you are a childhood survivor of sexual abuse by priests in New Jersey, the time to act is now. New Jersey recently updated legislation concerning its time limits to file child sexual abuse claims in civil court. The previous age to file was by the victim’s 28th birthday. Now, the extended statute of limitations doesn’t expire until the victim is 55 or seven years after discovering physical or emotional injury stemming from the abuse, whichever is later.

Additionally, New Jersey provided a revival window, enabling all victims previously barred from filing due to the restrictive statute of limitations in place before, to now have a second chance to file a civil lawsuit against both the abuser and the institution that allowed the abuse to persist. The two-year window started in December 2019 and ends in November 2021.

If you or someone you love experienced sex abuse at the Diocese of Trenton, contact the lawyers at Herman Law today for a free consultation. Don’t miss your chance to tell your story, expose your abuser, and get the compensation you deserve to assist in your continued healing.