At least 820 sex abuse lawsuits have been filed against New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses and religious orders in the past two years — including some 180 in the past month alone, according to an analysis by news outlet NorthJersey.com.
About 250 of the lawsuits, representing 30% of the total, involved priests, with religious sisters and lay church employees also named as abusers, the analysis showed.
The flood of civil complaints came during a two-year period New Jersey provided under the 2019 Child Victims Act to allow victims who otherwise would have been barred by the state’s statute of limitation to file lawsuits. The two-year “lookback” window closed on Nov. 30.
More than 1,200 lawsuits were filed in all. About two-thirds of these were filed against Catholic dioceses and religious orders.
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| Name | Diocese | Phone Number |
|---|---|---|
| Bishop Dennis Sullivan | Bishop of Camden | 856.756.7900 |
| Bishop James Checchio | Bishop of Metuchen | 732.562.1990 |
| Cardinal Joseph Tobin | Archbishop of Newark | 973.497.4000 |
| Bishop Kevin Sweeney | Bishop of Paterson | 973.777.8818 |
| Bishop David O'Connell | Bishop of Trenton | 609.406.7400 |