Diocese of Trenton Priest Charged for Allegedly Engaging in Sexual Conduct with Teenager

By Krystal Knapp
Planet Princeton
August 21, 2014

http://planetprinceton.com/2014/08/21/diocese-of-trenton-priest-charged-for-allegedly-engaging-in-sexual-conduct-with-teenager/

Apurna

A priest from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton was arrested and charged for engaging in sexual conduct with a teenage boy from Trenton, Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini, Jr. announced today.

The Rev. Romannilo Apura, 67, was taken into custody by detectives with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit at his residence at St. Martha Parish in Point Pleasant shortly after 11 a.m. today.

Apura allegedly fondled the private parts of a teenage male victim in a home in Trenton in the late spring of this year. A second incident occurred in June when Apura attempted to remove the same victim’s pants.

The priest is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, one count of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, and one count of fourth-degree attempt to commit criminal sexual contact. He is being held at the Mercer County Correction Center in lieu of $100,000 cash or bond bail. As conditions of bail, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Pedro J. Jimenez Jr. ordered that Apura surrender his passport and have no contact with the victim or any other children.

The Diocese of Trenton reported the allegations to the prosecutor’s office earlier this week. Anyone with information on the case should contact the prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit at (609) 989-6568. There is no scheduled court date at this time.