BishopAccountability.org
	Case against Priests Delayed until Dec. 3 N.J. Clerics Face Sex Sting Charges By John Chadwick The Record [Bergen County NJ] October 3, 2002 The case against two North Jersey priests arrested in a Montreal sex sting operation opened Wednesday with a brief meeting of the lawyers, and was continued until Dec. 3. The Rev. Eugene Heyndricks, 60, and the Rev. William Giblin, 70, are charged with trying to obtain the services of an underaged male prostitute. Neither Giblin nor Heyndricks appeared in court. The two priests, who have had long careers with the Archdiocese of Newark, were arrested July 18 while traveling in a well-known gay neighborhood. Heyndricks is accused of soliciting the prostitute, and Giblin is charged with arranging the encounter, Montreal police said. The priests are represented by Montreal lawyers. The case is still in its preliminary stages. Prosecutors are turning over evidence - including video surveillance tapes -- to the priests' lawyers. On Dec. 3, the court will likely decide whether to proceed to a trial or a preliminary hearing. The prosecutors are not requiring the priests to attend the preliminary conferences, defense lawyers said. Frank Pappas, a lawyer for Heyndricks, said in an interview that he believes the video evidence he has seen so far is thin. Pappas said police observed his client talking to someone in a restaurant. "This isn't something that happened in a motel room," Pappas said. "People are seen sitting in a restaurant, discussing something, and that is what transpired." Prosecutors declined to comment. Giblin, a Newark native, served as headmaster and as a theology teacher for the prestigious Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange. At the time of his arrest, he was living in retirement in the rectory of Holy Rosary Church in Edgewater. Heyndricks, raised in Fair Lawn, served in parishes in Ridgewood, Park Ridge, and Fairview. At the time of his arrest, he was working at St. John Nepomucene in Guttenberg.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.