NEW JERSEY
The Record
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
POMPTON LAKES – A former pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church has been suspended by church leaders in Virginia, where he most recently served, over an allegation of child sexual abuse that predates his 15-year tenure in Pompton Lakes.
Rev. Kevin Downey was placed on administrative leave two weeks ago by the Diocese of Arlington, Va. In a statement, the diocese said Downey had recently been accused of abusing a boy in 1990, while he was vice president of development at Quincy University in Illinois.
Downey denies the accusation, the statement said.
Downey was an assistant priest at St. Mary’s in Pompton Lakes from 1993 to 1999, and he served as the parish pastor from 2002 to 2011.
Before he left New Jersey to become a pastor in Triangle, Va. in 2011, the staff of the Pompton Avenue church renamed part of the building Downey Hall in his honor.
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