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	Additional Charges for Priest Serving Time for Child Molestation By Ralph R. Ortega The Star-Ledger May 4, 2008 http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/additional_charges_for_priest.html A former Milford priest, already serving a 15-year-sentence for sexually molesting an altar boy, goes on trial today on a new set of child molestation charges. John M. Banko, 62, is charged with abusing a boy who was younger than 16 years old when he was pastor at St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church in Milford between Sept. 1994 and May 1995. A grand jury indictment charged Banko on separate counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child in the latest case. In 2002, Banko was convicted for performing oral sex on another boy after Sunday Mass twice in the 1990s. Banko, known to parishioners as "Father Jack," became the first Catholic priest to be convicted following the child sex abuse scandals that that have rocked the church. He was pastor of St. Edward's for six years before the Diocese of Metuchen removed him in 1995, and transferred him to the Mary Mother of God Church in Hillsborough. Banko was then relieved of that assignment in April 2000, shortly after the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office began its investigation of the initial charges made against him. He is currently an inmate at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in the Avenel section of Woodbridge Township. Contact: rortega@starledger.com
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