On March 19th, 2001, Michael Fugee, a priest in Wyckoff, NJ, gave a sworn statement at the Wyckoff Police Department detailing how he grabbed the penis of a 13 year old boy. ( click here to read the sworn statement )
In the presence of a stenographer, and detectives from Wyckoff and Bergen County, Michael Fugee related how he groped the thirteen year old boy while wrestling in a Virginia motel; he stated that doing so sexually excited him.
Fugee also, in his sworn statement, related getting excited in another incident at the boy’s home when he felt the boy’s genitals with his hand – again while wrestling.
Fugee was convicted in 2003 of aggravated criminal sexual contact, and had that conviction overturned due to the fact that his alleged homosexuality should not have been a factor in the trial – the sworn statement was not challenged.
In order to avoid having to put the child witness through another trial, the Bergen County Prosecutor agreed to a resolution of the criminal matter on July 16, 2007 that would keep Fugee away from children. This agreement was signed by the prosecutor, Fugee, and the Newark Archdiocese.
Fugee was eventually placed as a parish priest in Rochelle Park, NJ where no parishioners were aware of his criminal sexual activities. Under protest by the lay population, he was re-assigned to an administrative post; but, continued to have unsupervised contact with children in his role as a priest.
A Star Ledger report led to a Bergen Country Prosecutor investigation and report stating Michael Fugee heard confessions from minor children during the following times at the following locations:
1. April 2010 at the Claremont Retreat Center, Mt. Arlington, N.J.
2. September 2010, at the Kateri Environmental Center, 160 Conover Road, Wickatunk, N.J.
3. October 2011, at a parishioner’s home in Bayville, New Jersey
4. September 2012, at the Kateri Environmental Center, 160 Conover Road, Wickatunk, N.J.
5. February 2012, the Sacred Heart Church, Rochelle Park, N.J.
6 March 2012, the Sacred Heart Church, Rochelle Park, N.J.
7. December 2012 at Our Lady of Visitation Parish, Paramus, N.J
The confessions listed above are a very conservative listing of the agreement violations which prohibited him to hear confessions of children or go on youth retreats. Facebook photos published by the Star Ledger clearly show Fugee interacting with children in a variety of situations.
On May 20th, 2013, Michael Fugee was arrested based on these specific violations of the 2007 agreement – but the Archbishop of Newark, John Myers, insists this was not a violation.
The Star Ledger reports the archdiocese spokesperson as saying, “…the archdiocese has interpreted the document to mean Fugee could work with minors as long as he is under the supervision of priests or lay ministers who have knowledge of his past and of the conditions in the agreement.”
The agreement can be read online here.
The Bergen County prosecutor’s office is continuing its investigation into Fugee’s involvement with children since the signing of the 2007 agreement.
Calls for the resignation of Archbishop John Myers have been very vocal, as well as calls for a Vatican investigation of Myers. The contempt charges against Fugee may eventually lead to contempt charges against the Archdioceses.
This is not the first scandal for Archbishop John Myers who has been accused of ignoring sexual abuse against children in Illinois, and of threatening a family’s business after the child accused a priest of molestation.
Links:
Fugees Sworn Statement Taken at the Wyckoff Police Department in 2001.
2007 Agreement between Fugee, Prosecutor’s Office, and Archdiocese of Newark.
Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office 2013 Press Release on Arrest of Michael Fugee
http://www.bcpo.net/bcpo/blog/index.php
N.J. priest arrested, charged with violating ban on ministering to children
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/fugee_priest_arrested_after_wo.html
Sex-abuse suit alleges Myers ignored abuse report when he was bishop in Illinois
http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/Sex-abuse_suit.html
Mother of Alleged Abuse Victim Says Archbishop Myers Threatened Her Family
http://www.njtvonline.org/njtoday/video/mother-of-alleged-abuse-victim-says-archbishop-myers-threatened-her-family/
Newark archbishop allows priest who admitted groping boy to continue working with children
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/with_approval_of_archbishop_pr.html
Priest calls on Vatican to investigate Newark Archbishop John J. Myers
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/priest_calls_on_vatican_to_inv.html