New Jersey Catholic Dioceses Announce Launch of Voluntary Settlement Fund

Unlike Other Claim Funds, the New Jersey Catholic Conference Has Announced It Will Arbitrarily Exclude Claims Against Religious Order Priests and Lay Employees

NEWARK, NJ – Adam Horowitz, a nationally-recognized advocate for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, announces the launch of a new database of clergy and lay employees accused of sexual abuse in the Catholic dioceses of New Jersey: Archdiocese of Newark, Diocese of Camden, Diocese of Metuchen, Diocese of Paterson, and Diocese of Trenton. The database, which includes 328 priests as of today, and is believed to be the most comprehensive list of accused offenders available. This is far more than have been identified publicly by the dioceses themselves.

For the benefit of survivors and journalists alike, Horowitz and his team have painstakingly prepared individual profiles on dozens of accused offenders to consolidate available information about their backgrounds, alleged crimes, and, in the case of offenders who are still alive, their current locations. Many of these profiles include photographs that are not available anywhere else. Horowitz’s website contains similar databases for dioceses in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, and Washington D.C.

The database also includes priests who belong to religious orders, such as the Jesuits and Salesians of Don Bosco. Unlike some of their counterparts in the Diocese of Scranton and the Diocese of Erie, the Bishops of New Jersey have arbitrarily chosen to bar anyone abused by priests affiliated with religious orders and non-clergy lay employees, such as teachers, youth ministers, and coaches, from recovering from the fund. This prohibition applies even when the offender committed the abuse in a church or school run by dioceses. However, due the passage of a new law allowing anyone sexually abused in New Jersey to file lawsuits during a limited-time window, survivors of those perpetrators still have legal options in New Jersey’s courts.

The deadline to file claims with the compensation fund is December 31, 2019. Registration of new claims begins Saturday, June 15, 2019.

Horowitz’s database of accused priests is available at: https://adamhorowitzlaw.com/who-we-sue/church-sexual-abuse/new-jersey/

Click on the links to each individual diocese’s page for profiles of the accused priests who worked in that diocese.

Horowitz says the database will be continuously updated as the names of more accused individuals become public. You are encouraged to bookmark the link for easy access to the information.

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the State of New Jersey. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New Jersey, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in New Jersey now have legal options against those who have harmed them.