Morristown Man Gets Probation for Trashing Monument to Sex Abuse Victims

By Peggy Wright
Asbury Park Press
February 8, 2014

http://www.app.com/article/20140207/NJNEWS14/302070172/Morristown-man-gets-probation-trashing-monument-sex-abuse-victims?nclick_check=1

The millstone memorial to clergy sex abuse victims was destroyed by an ex-Mendham man. / Daily Record file photo

Apologizing and saying he had “no excuse” for his crime, a 39-year-old mentally ill man was sentenced Friday to probation and continued psychiatric treatment and ordered to pay $7,500 restitution for sledgehammering a monument in Mendham dedicated to victims of sexual abuse by priests.

Recognizing that former Mendham resident Gordon Ellis, who now lives in Morristown, has a documented history of mental illness, Assistant Morris County Prosecutor Anthony Scibetta last month had extended a plea offer of probation, restitution and continued treatment to the defendant.

Ellis accepted the deal and the Prosecutor’s Office downgraded an original third-degree charge of criminal mischief to a disorderly persons offense of criminal mischief. State Superior Court Judge Mary Gibbons Whipple, sitting in Morristown, on Friday sentenced Ellis to two years’ probation, continued treatment and $7,500 restitution to cover the damage Ellis caused on Nov. 18, 2011, when he used a sledgehammer to destroy a 400-pound millstone memorial erected outside St. Joseph Church in Mendham.

“I would like to personally apologize to St. Joseph’s and the support group they offer. They do a good thing and I put a black mark against that. I’m sorry and I have no excuse for it,” Ellis told the judge.

A support group had met at the church but moved seven years ago to the Grace Lutheran Church on East Main Street in Mendham.

The memorial, originally erected in 2004, was rebuilt and rededicated but in March 2013 the replacement memorial that depicted two children was vandalized again. The perpetrator has not been caught.

Ellis did not specifically give a reason why he targeted the monument, which is dedicated to all victims of sexual abuse by priests, including more than a dozen who were admittedly molested by St. Joseph’s former pastor, now-defrocked James Hanley.

The judge, defense lawyer Neill Hamilton and Scibetta all said they believe that Ellis will do well under probationary supervision.

Friends Fred Marigliano of Green Brook and Kevin Waldrip of Old Bridge attended the sentencing and later said they were molested themselves decades ago by priests and belong to the support group Road to Recovery. They said they were disappointed that Ellis did not express his reasons for the destruction.

“I’m very disappointed that he didn’t tell us why and he has to know why,” Marigliano said, adding that if Ellis was himself abused they would like to help him.

“It took me over 40 years to speak out and now I’m never going to stop. It’s all about protecting the kids and justice,” Marigliano said. He wore around his neck a photograph of James Kelly, who was molested by Hanley and later committed suicide.

Contact: pwright@njpressmedia.com