September 02, 2005

Priest voluntarily leaves post while sex allegation is checked

BAYONNE (NJ)
Star-Ledger

Friday, September 02, 2005
BY JEFF DIAMANT
Star-Ledger Staff
A Roman Catholic priest has voluntarily left his post at St. Henry's Church in Bayonne while the Newark Archdiocese investigates an allegation of sexual abuse made against him by a man who is now 36.

Joe Capozzi of Cliffside Park informed the archdiocese last week that Monsignor Peter Cheplic molested him in the 1980s after Capozzi's family met the priest while Cheplic worked at St. Matthew Parish in Ridgefield.

Capozzi, who works as a finance officer for Columbia University in Manhattan, said the actual abuse occurred later when he was a teenager and Cheplic worked at St. Joseph of the Palisades in West New York.

St. Henry's parishioners learned about the situation Sunday when a priest read a statement issued by the archdiocese.

"We know that most of you in St. Henry have great affection and respect for Monsignor and it is with great sadness that we must take these steps," the statement read. "However, it is important that the archdiocese investigate this information fully and cooperate with authorities in such matters."

Posted by kshaw at September 2, 2005 07:47 AM