Support Group Urges Parishioners to Report Any Alleged Abuse by Priest
By Stephanie Loder
A support group for clergy sex-abuse victims wants two New Jersey Catholic bishops to reach out to parishioners and get them to report any allegations of abuse by a priest who once confessed to touching an underage boy. The bishops of the Diocese of Trenton and the Diocese of Paterson should reach out through church bulletins and websites to help victims step forward with any instances of abuse involving the Rev. Michael Fugee, who until recently worked at St. Mary’s parish in Colts Neck with its youth ministry, said David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). In a letter sent to to Diocese of Trenton Bishop David O’Connell and Diocese of Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, SNAP members wrote, “We strongly urge you, as church leaders in the areas where Fr. Fugee ministered — officially or unofficially, with or without permission — to appeal for victims and witnesses to come forward and report any abuse.” Fugee, a priest in the Archdiocese of Newark, resigned last week. Parishioners at St. Mary’s in Colts Neck say Fugee had been involved with a parish youth group in defiance of an agreement with Bergen County prosecutors that he not work with children. In 2012, Fugee attended another youth retreat at Kateri Environmental Center in Marlboro, according to SNAP. Fugee’s 2003 conviction on a charge of criminal sexual contact involving a boy was overturned by an appeals court. The priest eventually entered a pretrial intervention program. Fugee was allowed to return to the ministry, but as part of an agreement with prosecutors, he was barred from having unsupervised contact with minors or a job that requires him to oversee or minister to children under the age of 18. Now, Clohessy’s group wants the bishops in charge of the two diocese to reach out to anyone who may have an allegation of abuse against Fugee. “Your outreach – in church bulletins, on parish websites and in pulpit announcements — should encourage anyone who witnessed, suspected or experienced abuse to contact law enforcement, not church officials,” the SNAP letter says. “You can send a clear message that you will not tolerate secrecy and recklessness when a known abuser has worked in your diocese,” SNAP’s letter says. Neither the Diocese of Trenton nor the Diocese of Paterson had spokesmen available for comment Tuesday night. However, each diocese offers information on their websites about reporting suspected child abuse and each has a memorandum of understanding with the county prosecutor. A diocese is required to report any complaints or allegations of suspected abuse to the county prosecutor, as part of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People established in 2002 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Fugee spent many hours at the Colts Neck parish and participated in at least three youth retreats, two in New Jersey and one in Canada, parishioners said. Fugee’s resignation last week was followed by the Rev. Thomas J. Triggs stepping down as pastor of St. Mary’s in Colts Neck Saturday. Bishop David M. O’Connell accepted the resignation. St. Mary’s lay youth group ministers Michael and Amy Lenehan — friends of Fugee — have also stepped down. SNAP wants O’Connell and Serratelli to seek out anyone who may have information about incidents involving Fugee and report them to law enforcement, Clohessy said. Despite the resignations of the priests and lay ministers at St. Mary’s in Colts Neck, SNAP says more must be done to find out whether there are any instances of suspected abuse involving Fugee, Clohessy said. Fugee has been working in the Trenton and Paterson dioceses for more than a decade, SNAP said. In 2010, at a youth retreat at Lake Hopatcong in the Paterson Diocese, parishioners said Fugee heard confessions from youth, according to SNAP.
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