January 30, 2006

Defrocked N.J. Priest In Center Of Community Storm

PATERSON (NJ)
WCBS

Mary Calvi
Reporting

(CBS) PATERSON, N.J. What began as a quiet picket turned into an angry confrontation on Sunday in Paterson.

Victims who say they were sexually abused by a priest were protesting the fact that their abuser had moved into the neighborhood.

The last thing they expected happened.

The admitted abuser confronted them.

Now a defrocked priest, James Hanley admitted to the sexual abuse of more than a dozen boys in the Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese from 1968 to 1982.

Then on Sunday, in front of news cameras from all over the area, Hanley stepped back into their lives, breaking up the protest. Some of those boys, who are now adults, and their families confronted the man in a bizarre scene that looked like it belonged in the movie of the week.

Posted by kshaw at January 30, 2006 07:51 AM