Clergy Abuse Survivor Alleged that Camden Bishop Dismissed Claims

A clergy abuse survivor alleged that a bishop from the Camden, New Jersey Diocese dismissed his claims when he initially reported them as detailed in a lawsuit filed on Friday in the Ocean County Superior Court. In 1962, a priest from the St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Vineland, New Jersey purportedly abused a 16-year-old boy who reported the abuse immediately to a Camden Diocese bishop. According to the suit, the bishop dismissed his claims and told him to keep the accusations silent. The alleged abuser appeared in the Pennsylvania grand jury report in August 2018 and was moved from several parishes in the dioceses of Camden, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. He admitted to the reported abuse in 1984 but was not removed from the priesthood until 2002. In between that time, he resigned from his position at the Vineland church for an apparent drinking problem in 1980.

In many cases, survivors find discussing the abuse they suffered difficult and traumatic. Other survivors and victims may attempt to report the abuse as soon as it takes place but be met with dismissals or disbelief. Reports and investigations such as the Pennsylvania grand jury report and the creation of the New Jersey task force solidify the claims made by the numerous survivors who deserve justice instead of denial.

If you or a loved one suffered from clergy abuse in childhood, our New Jersey clergy abuse lawyers at the Law Offices of Harold J. Gerr will pursue justice on your behalf. To arrange a free and confidential consultation, call us today at 732-537-8570 or toll-free at 877-249-4600 or contact us online. We proudly serve clients throughout New Jersey and in the municipalities of New Brunswick, Somerset, Piscataway, Edison, South River, Sayreville, Metuchen, East Brunswick, South Plainfield, Fords, Middlesex, Old Bridge, Iselin, Bound Brook, Perth Amboy, and Colonia.