N.J. archbishop accused in $50 million lawsuit of sexually abusing 5-year-old girl in church rectory
The one-time archbishop of Newark was accused in a stunning $50 million lawsuit of sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl inside a church rectory on multiple occasions in 1976.
Archbishop Peter Gerety, who died five years ago at age 104, befriended the young victim’s financially struggling family and won their trust by delivering meals to their Newark home, according to court papers. He then volunteered to watch the little girl while her seamstress mother was at work, court papers charged.
Once at the rectory, Gerety allegedly brought the child to his bedroom, where he touched her sexually and masturbated in front of the girl on three or four occasions, the lawsuit alleged.
“As a child, I misguidedly thought that God had specifically sent Archbishop Gerety to my mom and family to rescue us and help us get food to eat,” the victim declared in an affidavit with the lawsuit. “I felt I had no other option other than to do as Archbishop Gerety instructed.”
The suit was brought after an independent board created by the church to handle abuse compensation offered the victim a $5,000 settlement, according to plaintiff’s attorney John Baldante. The church declined to comment on specifics about the case originally reported by NorthJersey.com.
“It would be inappropriate to discuss or comment on matters in litigation, but it is important to note that the Archdiocese of Newark remains fully committed to transparency,” said a church spokesman.
The woman, identified only by the pseudonym Clara Doe, is now a 49-year-old living in Pennsylvania. She and her family were parishioners at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark, and the abuse ended only when she began pushing back against the visits with the archbishop, court papers alleged.
“This case is indicative of how systemic and pervasive the sexual abuse of children was, and remains to this day, in the Catholic Church,” said Baldante, who made claims of negligence and infliction of emotional distress in the suit.
The victim never spoke of the abuse until confiding in her sister at age 13, became suicidal in her 20s, and remains plagued by anxiety and depression that requires medication, she said in the affidavit. Neither the victim nor her sister ever told their mother about the sexual abuse.
“I have suffered from extreme difficulty navigating intimate relationships, and I continue to experience bouts of anger, as well as difficulties when involved in relationships and attempting to be intimate in the context of these relationships,” the plaintiff wrote.
Gerety served as Newark’s archbishop from 1974 through his retirement in 1986, and was succeeded by Theodore McCarrick — who was defrocked in 2019 after a church probe confirmed charges of his sexual abuse of minors and adult seminarians.
