Mendham Memorial to Clergy Abuse Victims Damaged Again

By Phil Garber
The Observer-Tribune
September 3, 2015

http://www.newjerseyhills.com/observer-tribune/news/mendham-memorial-to-clergy-abuse-victims-damaged-again/article_2dfd370c-3972-500d-a764-4030ee62aaeb.html

The twice-vandalized memorial to child victims of clergy sex abuse erected 11 years ago in the garden of St. Joseph Church has been partly destroyed again.

This time, the church pastor said the memorial has disintegrated because the materials could not withstand last winter’s cold temperatures.

But the sculptor who made the memorial said the materials normally withstand varying extremes of weather and temperatures.

The memorial initially built in 2004 included a 400 pound black basalt millstone. It was vandalized in 2011, later rebuilt and two figures of a boy and girl were added.

It was damaged a second time in 2013 when someone smashed the figure of the girl. The figure was then repaired. This time, the figure of a boy has fallen apart and was removed.

The memorial was erected in memory of James Kelly, who was a victim of defrocked, former St. Joseph Pastor James Hanley. Kelly committed suicide in 2003. Hanley was pastor of St. Joseph’s from 1972 to 1982, where he sexually abused more than a dozen boys in the church rectory. He was later defrocked but not charged because of the statute of limitations.

The latest damages were reported on Monday by the man who helped to pay to replace the memorial after it was damaged the first time. The man, Fred Marigliano of Green Brook, said he recently noticed that one of the figures was destroyed and that the other seemed intact.

“It’s right down to the bottom,” said Marigliano. “It’s damaged a lot worse than before.”

But the church pastor, the Rev. Monsignor Joseph Anginoli said the statues at the memorial were damaged last winter.

“The statues have been like that since last winter. The materials don’t withstand the cold weather and they crumbled,” Anginoli said. “No one vandalized them.”

Anginoli, however, later said that children who had just received their first communion were playing in early May and accidentally knocked down and destroyed the weakened, boy figurine.

Anginoli said repairs were made after the second incident of vandalism but that the statues deteriorated over the winter. He said smaller figures cast in bronze could be erected but that it could be too costly.

The figures of the boy and girl were installed about three years ago and were made by Jason Jones, owner of Jones Sculptor Studio in Portland, Ore. He said the figures were made of clay that is fired in a very high temperature kiln that is used for “high fire ceramics.” The clay is transformed by the heat into a material as hard as stone.

“It’s been used for thousands of years in exterior uses,” Jones said. “It will withstand pretty much anything. It should last indefinitely. We have pretty intense weather here in Portland and there is a lot of public artwork in this type of material.”

Jones said repairs made to the statue of the girl may have been done using the wrong materials, causing the figure to disintegrate. He also said that bronze figures would not deteriorate but that the thin bronze could be easily vandalized. Jones also said a bronze sculpture could cost as much as $10,000.

Vandalism History

The memorial was first vandalized on Nov. 18, 2011. Gordon Ellis, of Morristown and formerly of Mendham, admitted to taking a sledgehammer to the memorial but did not say why he did it. Ellis was fined $7,500 and was ordered to continue psychiatric treatment.

The memorial was rebuilt but was again vandalized in March 2013. There have been no arrests in the second incident.

Marigliano, 66, helped raise money to build the memorial and its replacement and to install a security camera and increased lighting.

Marigliano has been involved in the statewide support group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), as he was repeatedly raped at his home in Plainfield by a priest from Staten Island, N.Y., who died in 1995. SNAP meetings were held at St. Joseph Church until 2007 when the church no longer permitted the group to meet.

The idea for the original memorial came from Bill Crane, a former parishioner at St. Joseph Church and victim of Hanley. Crane said the memorial will be rebuilt for a third time. He said funds to pay for the latest repairs should be available through the penalties lodged against Ellis.

Crane said he will again work to raise money to replace the memorial. He said that Anginoli did not support the original installation of the memorial.

“I look at it as (Anginoli) looked for a way to get the memorial out of there,” Crane said. “With everything that has taken place, you would think that you’d see a proactive pastor in having this restored properly.”

The millstone in the memorial is in reference to Jesus who said in Matthew 18; 5-6 “And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

The inscription beneath the millstone reads: “This millstone is dedicated to the victims of sexual abuse at St. Joseph’s and everywhere as a tribute to their survival, a mark of our deep respect and as a symbol of our commitment to their healing.”

Marigliano also is a member of “Road to Recovery,” a support group for people who have been sexual abused by clergy members. He also is active in the drive to change the state law to eliminate the statute of limitations so abusive clergy members can be prosecuted, regardless of the date of the crime.

“Road to Recovery” is joining with SNAP and other non-profits to host a walk on Sept. 11 to dramatize the frequency of child abuse. The walk will begin in Cape May and end in north Jersey. For information visit www.walktoendsolnj.weebly.com.