Former Wyckoff Priest Charged in Groping Working with Kids

Northjersey.com
April 28, 2013

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Former_Wyckoff_priest_charged_in_groping_working_with_kids_.html

The Rev. Michael Fugee was charged with criminal sexual contact in 2001.

NEWARK — Investigators are questioning whether a New Jersey priest once accused of child molestation in Wyckoff violated an agreement that called for him to never again work with children.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reports the Rev. Michael Fugee has had an unofficial association with a Monmouth County church for several years. Parishioners say he has attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors behind closed doors.

Newark Archdiocese spokesman Jim Goodness said Fugee was unavailable for comment.

But Goodness says the archdiocese believes the 52-year-old Fugee can work with minors if he's supervised by priests or lay ministers aware of his past and the agreement's conditions.

"The fact is, he has done nothing wrong," Goodness told the newspaper. "Nobody has reported any activity that is inappropriate, and I think that's important to know, especially given that he's a figure whose name is public and whose past is public."

Fugee was an assistant pastor at St. Elizabeth Church in Wyckoff in 2001, when he was charged with criminal sexual contact and child endangerment for allegedly groping a 13-year-old boy.  Fugee was convicted in 2003 of criminal sexual contact. It was overturned by an appeals court and the priest eventually entered a pretrial intervention program.

Authorities told the newspaper that Fugee could face civil penalties, criminal charges or both if he is found to have violated the agreement with prosecutors. But it's not clear whether Newark Archbishop John Myers, who is New Jersey's highest-ranking Catholic official, or the archdiocese in general could face consequences.

Advocates for victims of sexual abuse were displeased to hear about Fugee working with children.

"This shows a terrible lack of responsibility on the part of the archbishop," Theresa Padovano, New Jersey coordinator for the lay reform group Voice of the Faithful, told the newspaper. "You just want to throw your hands up. What are they thinking?"

In February, officials with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark acknowledged that Fugee had been living at Church of the Sacred Heart in Rochelle Park, assisting the pastor with some duties. At the time, according to The Rev. Robert Wolfee, the pastor of Sacred Heart, said Fugee had agreed to leave the parish.