HUDSON COUNTY (NJ)
Jersey Journal
May 19, 2019
By Rev. Alexander Santora/
Eight days this month — May 6 to 13 — may turn out to be the most consequential in the state for the next phase of the long-running clerical sex abuse scandal.
First, Anderson & Associates released a list of 311 clergy and religious accused of abuse in New Jersey. Then, Pope Francis codified changes for the worldwide church to address sex abuse and hold people accountable. Lastly, Gov. Murphy signed into law legislation that ensures a longer period for victims of sexual abuse to sue and he made it retroactive, as well.
“The Anderson Report on Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese and Dioceses in New Jersey,” released May 6, is more than twice as long as the list of 188 names released by the Catholic church earlier this year. Anderson’s list is longer because it includes religious — including three nuns, deacons and priests from New Jersey — who abused elsewhere in the country.
The law firm’s introduction in the report asserts that it relied on “publicly available sources,” like media reports and court cases. It also claims that these mostly are “just allegations” and everyone is “innocent until proven guilty.”
I found listed a priest from the Archdiocese of Newark whose allegation was false and a grand jury declined to indict him. Including him with others whose cases are probably credible is a gross injustice.
Asked about it, Patrick J. Wall — an advocate with Anderson’s L.A. office and former Benedictine priest who was in the order for 12 years — could not explain why the priest was included.
“We include all open cases as the litigation moves forward,” he said. Yet, in this case, the case was closed.
In 2010, a detective from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office along with a town policeman went to the priest’s rectory to inform him of an allegation. The priest hired his own lawyer and appeared before a grand jury. Months later, an abuse victim advocate showed up in town seeking dirt on the priest so he informed his parishioners and the archdiocese that he was never charged. It made the newspapers and that apparently justified Anderson including his name.
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