NEW JERSEY
Daily Record
BY PEGGY WRIGHT
DAILY RECORD
A former Roman Catholic priest whose whereabouts were unknown to the Archdiocese of Newark for a decade was indicted Tuesday on charges of sexual misconduct with four male teenagers he counseled as a social worker last year at Daytop-NJ in Mendham.
A Morris County grand jury handed up an indictment that charges Madison resident Richard J. Mieliwocki, 58, with three counts of child endangerment and five counts of criminal sexual contact that all relate to alleged sexual interaction Mieliwocki had with four youths between the ages of 16 and 18 at the prestigious, in-patient substance abuse rehabilitation facility.
While entrusted with counseling the youths -- including three who were on court-ordered probation -- Mieliwocki asked three about the size of their genitals and whether they masturbated. He allegedly touched the buttocks of one youth, the genitals of a second, and got a third teenager to remove his clothing and then spanked the boy's bare buttocks, court documents state.
The encounters spanned from March 8 to Dec. 6, 2004. Mieliwocki was arrested on Dec. 28 after Daytop's vice president and Executive Director, Rev. Joseph Hennen, personally called Morris County Prosecutor Michael M. Rubbinaccio to report information about inappropriate conduct by Mieliwocki during one-on-one counseling sessions.