NEW JERSEY
The Record
SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
The Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese acknowledged Monday that it settled yet another case of sexual abuse allegations against Monsignor Ronald J. Tully, this time involving a woman who accused the one-time Passaic Catholic high school administrator of repeatedly fondling her decades ago.
The diocese now has paid at least nine victims an estimated $2.1 million to settle cases of abuse against Tully, who has been barred from working as a priest since 2004. In the latest case, the first against Tully to involve a female victim, the accuser alleges that Tully fondled her 20 times in 1977 when she was a 16-year-old student at Pope Pius High School in Passaic. Tully was then the high school’s vice principal.
Mitchell Garabedien, the woman’s Boston-based attorney, said his client came to him several months ago after having a conversation about Tully with someone who gave her “the courage to come forward.” The woman, who still lives in New Jersey, hopes her actions will encourage other women to come forward, whether about Tully or other cases, Garabedian said.
Paterson Diocese attorney Ken Mullaney confirmed the settlement and said local church officials filed paperwork to Rome at least three years ago to defrock Tully, who will continue to receive a pension until that process, known as laicization, is completed. Mullaney said he has been “scratching my head” over why it has taken so long.
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