Another Diocese Issues Statement about Former Wyckoff Priest
By Jeff Green
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton posted a forceful message on its website this morning about a priest who attended youth ministry events in its parishes without permission, following the example of the Paterson Diocese, which took similar action earlier this week. The message, which fills most of the Trenton diocese website – www.dioceseoftrenton.org -- discusses the Rev. Michael Fugee’s “serious breach of compliance with our child protection policies” by his involvement with a Colts Neck parish youth group. The statement encourages victims of sexual abuse by clergy, or people who know victims within the diocese’s four-county territory, to report any allegations to the abuse hotline. Fugee, who allegedly molested a Wyckoff boy more than a decade ago, recently was revealed to have attended numerous youth retreats in apparent violation of an agreement he signed with prosecutors not to minister to children. Bergen County prosecutors immediately opened an investigation when alerted about the activities in late April. On Wednesday, the Diocese of Paterson posted a statement on its website calling on anyone with information about “inappropriate behavior” on Fugee’s part to inform diocesan staff. A spokesman for Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli said the diocese also sent the message to all 110 parishes in Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties and plans to publish it in the next edition of The Beacon, the diocesan newspaper. So far, officials have not heard any complaints. Jim Goodness, spokesman for Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, said Thursday that a specific message about Fugee is unnecessary given the notoriety of the case. The archdiocese, he said, has adopted “an aggressive and consistent outreach” to victims of sexual abuse in general, publishing its victim assistance coordinator hotline on bulletins, in its official newspaper and on its website. Asked about the Paterson statement, victims’ advocate Mark Crawford praised the diocese’s outreach but said church officials should be encouraging people with information to go directly to law enforcement. He added that all of the involved dioceses should urge priests to share the message in church. The Trenton statement notes that allegations reported to its abuse hotline are forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. Dioceses throughout New Jersey have agreed to that reporting policy for more than a decade. A spokesman for Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, said earlier this week he is closely following the developing events in the Fugee case. The same day the archdiocese confirmed that it hired a top criminal defense lawyer to review legal documents in the prosecutor’s inquiry. Several Democratic state lawmakers — including state Sen. Barbara Buono, the leading Democratic contender for governor, and Senate President Stephen Sweeney — have called on the Newark archbishop to resign. Goodness has maintained that the archdiocese did not permit or know about Fugee’s activities in Morris or Monmouth counties until recent media reports. He has not addressed Fugee’s participation in a Nutley parish, which is within the archdiocese. The Paterson and Trenton dioceses have said they neither knew about nor permitted Fugee’s participation with youth. Fugee resigned from the ministry and his two archdiocese office jobs last week. Two Colts Neck youth ministers and the parish pastor also stepped down days later. Fugee, 52, was convicted in 2003 of aggravated criminal sexual contact after being charged with groping a 13-year-old boy while he was assistant pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Wyckoff. The conviction was overturned because of a judicial error, but to avoid a second trial, Fugee agreed to serve two years probation and signed the agreement with prosecutors never to supervise or minister to children, and to stay away from youth groups. Email: greenj@northjersey.com
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