NEW JERSEY
The Record
BY KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
Several relatives and friends of a Passaic priest accused of sexual conduct testified Wednesday on his behalf, describing him as a humble and caring person who strengthened the church he worked for.
“I have known him for a long time and he is an amazing person,” Cindy Negrete, a member of the church, said about the Rev. Jose Lopez as she testified in Superior Court in Paterson. “It’s very sad because he shouldn’t be in this position. I know he would never, ever do something like this.”
Lopez’s cousin, the Rev. Leonardo Lopez, said he has known the 37-year-old Lopez for 34 years, going back to the days when they were young boys growing up in the same neighborhood in their native Colombia.
“He is a very good person and I have never seen anything inappropriate in his life,” Leonardo Lopez said.
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