As of the 26h of August, Father Thomas P. Ganley has been sentenced to four years in prison for second-degree sexual assault on a teenage girl. The Roman Catholic priest, who is from Phillipsburg, NJ, plead guilty on April 8th 2019 to having illegal sexual interactions with a girl who was around the age of 16 and was under his supervisory authority back in the 1990s. The 64-year old clergyman was stationed at Saint Celcelia Church in the Iselin Section of Woodbridge at the time of the abuse and was the head of the Youth Ministry for the parish.
Story by Malik
Ganley was arrested on January 16, 2019, two days after his victim reported the sexual abuse at the Clergy Abuse Task Force Hotline. He will now be required under NJ Megan’s Law to register as a sex offender and will be prohibited to have unsupervised contact with minors.
Father Ganley serves as the first conviction of the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force, created by Attorney General Grewal in September of last year. The task force investigates sexual abuse allegations against clergyman of New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses and cover ups of said allegations. The formation of the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force was a reaction to a Pennsylvania grand jury revealing more than 1,000 victims claiming sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
“This prison sentence demonstrates that we take these allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members very seriously and will act swiftly to secure justice for survivors,” said Attorney General Grewal. “This case also shows that, even if the abuse occurred many years ago, charges may still be viable and we will pursue them vigorously. Where charges are in fact time-barred, we will work equally hard to determine if the Church was aware of the abuse but failed to take action or prevent it from recurring, which will be the subject of a state grand jury presentment and report. We’ll do everything in our power to expose these past wrongs and hold wrongdoers accountable.”
If there is anyone has ever experienced or knows of someone who has experienced sexual abuse by members of the clergy, please contact the 24/7 Clergy Abuse Hotline: 855-363-6548. Attorney General Grewal established this hotline alongside the task force and is operated by trained professionals.
