MENDHAM (NJ)
Observer-Tribune
By MARIA VOGEL-SHORT Staff Writer
02/02/2006
MENDHAM —- Maple Avenue resident Lou Serrano, a retired New York City police officer, said Monday that his latest confrontation with disgraced former priest and admitted child molester James T. Hanley, was one of many between the two during the past 20 years.
Serrano and his son, Mark, were with 20 victims and their families who went to Hanley’s McBride Avenue, Paterson, neighborhood on Sunday to circulate flyers warning residents that Hanley had moved to the neighborhood.
Serrano said he has been tracking Hanley for years after his son acknowledged in 1985 that he was a victim of sex abuse.
Hanley was a pastor from 1972-82 at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church on Route 24, in Mendham, where many of Hanley’s 21 admitted victims lived. Hanley certified in a sworn statement in October 2003 that he abused 21 children while serving as a priest in several Morris County communities.
“Our purpose is to safeguard children,” said Serrano.