NEW JERSEY
AZCentral
By Amanda Oglesby
Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
Mon Sep 30, 2013
JACKSON, N.J. — A Catholic priest who once ministered to a congregation here has taken a leave of absence following a sexting scandal with a man he reportedly thought was a 16-year-old boy.
The Rev. Matthew Riedlinger preached at St. Aloysius Church until August 2012, when he entered counseling following complaints of inappropriate cellphone text conversations with other adults, according to church leadership.
While in out-patient treatment, Riedlinger continued having sexual conversations, prompting the Diocese of Trenton to remove him from his parish. Last week, the diocese announced that Riedlinger had taken a leave of absence from the priesthood.
The Rev. John Bambrick, St. Aloysius’ administrator, said perpetrators as well as victims of sexual crimes need treatment to stop the cycle of abuse.
“This is a compulsive behavior,” said Bambrick, who was a victim of a priest’s sexual abuse when he was a teenager.
Bambrick serves on various organizations to help halt sexual abuse. He is a member of the Catholic Whistleblower Network; Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and formerly served on the board of New Jersey’s Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
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