SECAUCUS (NJ)
The Star-Ledger
Monday, March 13, 2006
BY MOLLY BLOOM AND KASI ADDISON
Star-Ledger Staff
James T. Hanley, the defrocked priest at the center of a notorious New Jersey sex abuse case, faces assault charges following an alleged dispute with a clerk at a hotel in Secaucus.
Hanley was released yesterday from Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, where he was taken after claiming he was injured by police during his arrest Friday. Hanley was charged by Secaucus police with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon, according to the Associated Press.
The former Roman Catholic priest was staying at the Extended Stay America while arranging a move from his Paterson apartment when he got into an argument with a clerk who then called police.
Hanley said the hotel manager refused to give him a room key until his bill was paid and out of frustration he smacked the desk with an aluminum bat, which he was using as a cane. When police arrived, one of the officers allegedly knocked him down with a karate kick to the left leg, which Hanley said was already injured from an earlier fall. Police said he was released because he needed medical treatment.