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	Jersey Priest Arrested in Ireland Irish Voice January 13, 2004 AN Irish-born priest from New Jersey has been arrested on sex assault charges in Ireland. Gardai (police) in Ireland arrested Rev. Patrick Magee, 63, the pastor of a Catholic church in Bay Head on charges he sexually abused a child more than 30 years ago, a spokesman for the Diocese of Trenton told the Irish Voice. Magee was arrested last Wednesday, December 31, while on vacation visiting his family in Ireland. He was charged with "committing an act of gross indecency on or towards a child" sometime between 1965 and 1969. Magee was a seminary student at the time of the alleged incident. He appeared in court in Northern Ireland, the diocese said, on New Year's Eve and was ordered to surrender his passport. He will be on trial in Ireland on February 25. Until then, he remains in Ireland. "He said someone had come forward and made the charge against him He was very upset, very apologetic for any hurt he may have caused people of the parish he loves," reported the diocese. Diocese of Trenton spokesman Steven Emery said Magee will face the Diocesan Review Board when he returns to the U.S. For the last two years, Magee has been pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Bay Head New Jersey. He was well known at St. Martha's Roman Catholic Church in Point Pleasant where he ministered for 20 years.
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