NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
Sunday, March 12, 2006
By LESLIE BRODY
STAFF WRITER
A former priest at the center of North Jersey's most notorious clergy sex-abuse case was arrested at a Secaucus hotel following a dispute Friday night.
James T. Hanley, 69, was charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon -- a baseball bat -- for an unlawful purpose.
Secaucus police said they arrested Hanley after responding to a call of a violent patron at the Extended StayAmerica Secaucus-Meadowlands at 8:44 p.m. Friday.
He was released pending his court appearance because he needed medical treatment for a leg injury, said police Sgt. Dominick De Gennaro. The sergeant wouldn't elaborate on the cause of the injury, however.
Hanley, who was accused of molesting nearly two dozen men when they were children, said Saturday that he was injured when the responding officers assaulted him.