N.J. priest steps down after old sex abuse allegation resurfaces

By Kelly Heyboer
NJ.com
January 8, 2019

https://www.nj.com/news/2019/01/nj-priest-steps-down-after-old-sex-abuse-allegation-resurfaces.html

A veteran Camden County priest has stepped down from ministry after a decades-old allegation of sexual abuse was rediscovered during a review of personnel files, church officials said.

The Rev. John Bohrer wrote a letter to parishioners at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Collingswood saying he was retiring as parish administrator Dec. 31 for health reasons -- and due to an accusation of sexual abuse, the Diocese of Camden said in a statement.

The accusation, made in 2002, said Bohrer sexually abused an alleged victim while he worked at Saint Pius X Parish in Cherry Hill in the mid-1980s, diocese officials said.

The paperwork detailing the accusation resurfaced during an independent review of the Diocese of Camden’s personnel files as all five of New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses prepare to release the names later this year of all clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse in the past.

In Bohrer’s case, the accusations against him were reviewed in 2002 and he was allowed to return to the ministry seven years later.

“It was reported to the diocese in October 2002 and subsequently reported to law enforcement, even though the criminal statute of limitations had expired,” the diocese’s statement said. “Shortly thereafter, Father Bohrer was removed from ministry and the allegation was investigated by the diocese, and subsequently reviewed by the Vatican.”

The Vatican review determined the allegation “did not meet the bar” for Bohrer to be removed from the priesthood, church officials said.

Bohrer returned to ministry in 2009, first as a nursing home resident chaplain and later as a parochial vicar, church officials said. He has been at Saint Teresa of Calcutta parish in Collingswood since 2011. No further complaints were made against him.

The statement did not give any additional details about the alleged abuse accusation made in 2002 or who filed it.

However, church officials said Bohrer resigned from ministry last week because of the Diocese of Camden’s zero tolerance policy and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops rules on how to handle sexual abuse allegations.

The Archdiocese of Newark and the state’s four other dioceses -- Camden, Paterson, Metuchen and Trenton -- announced in November that they are preparing to release the names of every priest and deacon “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a child.

Church officials have not given a date when they will release the list, except to say it is expected to be early this year. They have also not said how many names will be on the list.

The Catholic Church is establishing a victim compensation fund and counseling program for victims of sexual abuse by clergy and other church employees in New Jersey.

The move comes as the Catholic Church has been under increasing pressure worldwide to be more transparent about clergy sexual abuse.

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced in September that a state task force will investigate how the Catholic Church in New Jersey handled sexual abuse claims. The grand jury probe is modeled on a similar investigation in Pennsylvania that found more than 300 priests sexually abused more than 1,000 children over several decades as many church leaders covered up the crimes.

The attorney general’s task force has set up a hotline-- (855) 363-6548 -- for victims to report clergy sexual abuse in New Jersey. The Archdiocese of Newark said in November it has received what is expected to be one of multiple subpoenas to Catholic dioceses to turn over files and records of priest abuse allegations to state investigators.