NEW JERSEY
Daily Record
BY PEGGY WRIGHT
DAILY RECORD
A former Roman Catholic priest pleaded innocent at his arraignment Tuesday on charges of sexual misconduct with four male teenagers he counseled as a social worker at Daytop-NJ in Mendham.
Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Meg Rodriguez said the state will make a formal plea offer within seven days to defendant Richard J. Mieliwocki, 58, to resolve three charges of child endangerment and five charges of criminal sexual contact against the ex-priest, a Madison resident.
If the case goes to trial, the prosecutor's office will try to introduce evidence of so-called "prior bad acts" by Mieliwocki. Rodriguez did not elaborate at the Superior Court hearing on the alleged past bad acts, but records and authorities say that Mieliwocki had two incidences of inappropriate behavior with male teens in his past.
Mieliwocki was indicted in August on charges of misconduct between March 8 and Dec. 6, 2004, with four youths between the ages of 16 and 18 while he worked as a counselor at the in-patient substance abuse rehabilitation facility in Mendham. He allegedly asked three about the size of their genitals and whether they masturbated. He also is accused of touching the buttocks of one boy, the genitals of a second, and getting a third teenager to remove his clothing so he could spank his bare buttocks.