Former Mendham Priest Allegedly Committed Sex Assault While Passing through Randolph

The Observer-Tribune
February 21, 2014

http://newjerseyhills.com/observer-tribune/news/former-mendham-priest-allegedly-committed-sex-assault-while-passing-through/article_a0db45e2-9b21-11e3-897c-001a4bcf887a.html

A Catholic priest who retired from St. Joseph Church under a cloud and who now lives in El Paso, Texas, has been charged with committing an act of criminal sexual contact while on a bus passing through Randolph Township.

Acting Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and Randolph Township Police Chief David Stokoe said in a joint statement Friday that the Rev. Philip Briganti, 67 years old, of El Paso, Texas, has been charged with one count of criminal sexual contact, a crime of the fourth degree, for acts involving an adult male.

Briganti is a retired Paterson Diocesan priest presently living in El Paso, according to police.

He had briefly returned to officiate a wedding at St. Paul’s Church in Prospect Park, on Nov. 9, police said.

Briganti had been the former pastor at St. Joseph Church in Mendham, before his resignation in 2005.

In 2006, Briganti admitted, after much denials, that he had sent nude photos of himself over an Internet chat room.

There was never much made of it publicly by the diocese. Briganti was allowed to fade away into retirement while the members of the parish was largely left in the dark at the time.

After the Nov. 9. wedding reception, he was allegedly on a bus with the victim traveling to a hotel. At that point in time, while on the bus passing through Randolph Township, the defendant allegedly engaged in unwanted sexual contact with the victim. Upon notification of the allegation, the Diocese of Paterson immediately notified the Morris County, Passaic County, and Bergen County Prosecutor’s Offices and suspended his faculties. Although the defendant was charged on Feb. 20, he is presently in Texas and is not in custody.

The investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information relating to these charges is urged to contact the Randolph Township Police Department at 973-989-7010 or the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment Unit at 973-285-6200.

Acting Prosecutor Fredric Knapp would like to thank the Diocese of Paterson, the Randolph Township Police Department, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the members of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment Unit whose efforts contributed to this arrest.