NEWARD (NJ)
NorthJersey.com
Thursday, October 13, 2005
By JOHN CHADWICK
STAFF WRITER
When the Newark Archdiocese concluded an investigation of a former Ridgefield priest in 2003, church officials said the findings were clear.
They told the accuser in a terse letter that his allegations of sexual misconduct against the Rev. Peter Cheplic were "credible" and offered to pay for counseling.
"That was all I ever heard from them," said Martin Kansky, a former altar boy who came forward in 2002 with accusations that Cheplic molested him in 1978. "I had no idea what happened."
But Kansky learned last month through news reports that the archdiocese allowed Cheplic to keep his collar and return to parish ministry.
And he's outraged about the reason.
Church officials said they didn't remove Cheplic because Kansky was 18 at the time of the incident and was legally an adult.