As recently as mid-February this year, the Catholic dioceses of New Jersey released the names of 188 New Jersey priests that had been “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse dating back decades.

This release, according to North Jersey.com, was prompted by pending law enforcement investigations into the internal records of the Catholic church.

Back in September 2018, the Attorney General of the northeastern state formed the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force. This occurred after a grand jury report from neighboring Pennsylvania had uncovered reports of 1,000 survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy there. The heat was now on local church officials.

Even prior to the release of the master list of offending New Jersey priests, the first arrest of the task force occurred. On Jan. 16, 2019, Father Thomas P. Ganley of Saint Philip & Saint James Church in Phillipsburg was taken into custody. The 63-year old had been under scrutiny by the Prosecutor’s Office of Middlesex County.

The clergyman was accused of second degree sexual assault of a minor with whom he had supervisory responsibility over. While the teenager took part in the youth program at Saint Cecilia Church in the Iselin section of Woodbridge, Ganley allegedly engaged in sexual acts with the victim when she was 16 and 17 years old, as indicated by Insider NJ.

In another report printed in the New Jersey Law Journal on April 9, it was indicated that Ganley registered a guilty plea to the sexual assault charges which purportedly took place in the early 1990’s. The plea was entered into the record of Middlesex County Superior Court on that day with a tentative date for sentencing set for July 2.

On the list of 188 New Jersey priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse, Thomas Ganley’s name appears with only the incident under investigation noted. According to a separate North Jersey.com article on Feb. 13 which notes offending clergy from each of the State’s dioceses, he has served at eight different Catholic churches.

The arrest came swiftly after the now-adult victim contacted the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force hotline. The Prosecutor’s Office has recommended that in exchange for the guilty plea, Ganley will likely serve four years in prison, be prohibited from any contact whatsoever with a minor child, and be forced to register as a known sex offender pursuant to Megan’s Law.

Megan’s Law is an informal name to section of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994. Inspired by the death of Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old raped and murdered by her neighbor, it requires sex offenders to register with local law enforcement and makes these registrations available to the public.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.