RIDGEFIELD (NJ)
NorthJersey.com
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
By JOHN CHADWICK
STAFF WRITER
A Catholic priest who served 13 years at St. Matthew's Church in Ridgefield is facing accusations of sexual abuse by two former parishioners.
The Rev. Peter Cheplic, who worked at the church from 1972 to 1985, stepped down from his position at a Bayonne church last month after the Newark Archdiocese received a complaint from Joe Capozzi, a 36-year-old Manhattan resident who said Cheplic molested him in the 1980s.
The second accuser, Raymond Capone, 40, of South Plainfield, filed a complaint with the archdiocese last week, alleging that Cheplic fondled him in the mid-1980s after getting him drunk.
Cheplic, 59, hasn't been charged with a crime. And, as in other church sexual abuse cases, it's unlikely law enforcement authorities will press charges because the allegations date back two decades.
Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said Cheplic is prohibited from working as a priest until the accusations are investigated by a church review board. He also said the archdiocese is informing the county prosecutors about the allegations.