MENDHAM (NJ)
Daily Record
BY PEGGY WRIGHT
DAILY RECORD
A former Roman Catholic priest, accused of sexually abusing four male teenagers he counseled as a social worker at Daytop-NJ in Mendham, voluntarily agreed on Wednesday to a suspension of his social work license while the criminal charges are pending.
Richard J. Mieliwocki, a 58-year-old Madison resident, was set to have a hearing on Wednesday before the state Board of Social Work Examiners, but he agreed instead to surrender his social work license until further order of the board, said Jeff Lamm, a board spokesman.
The Morris County Prosecutor's Office has offered Mieliwocki a plea bargain of between five and seven years in prison to resolve charges of child endangerment and criminal sexual contact.
Mieliwocki was indicted in August on charges of misconduct with four youths between the ages of 16 and 18 between March 8 and Dec. 6, 2004, while he worked as a counselor at the inpatient 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 take off his clothes so he could spank his bare buttocks.