New Jersey can have a grand jury investigate clergy sex abuse allegations, state high court rules
NEW JERSEY, JUN 16 – The Diocese of Camden dropped its opposition, allowing a grand jury to proceed investigating decades of abuse and coverups in six southern New Jersey counties, following a $87.5 million settlement.
- On June 16, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously decided that a special grand jury has the authority to examine decades-long claims of sexual misconduct involving Catholic Church clergy, as well as any related concealment by diocesan officials.
- The decision ended a years-long legal battle sparked by the Diocese of Camden's challenge, which had blocked the grand jury from convening and kept proceedings sealed.
- The investigation targets widespread abuse allegations from 1967 to 1974 involving named priests like Rev. Harold J. Bedford, who allegedly abused a now 62-year-old man from age five to thirteen.
- Attorney Greg Gianforcaro called the ruling "a huge victory for survivors," while Assistant Attorney General Lyndsay Ruotolo affirmed the state's commitment to support victims and pursue accountability.
- The ruling allows New Jersey to proceed with the statewide grand jury probe, which may influence accountability in other dioceses and reflects continuing public concern over clergy sexual misconduct.
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New Jersey Supreme Court says state can empanel grand jury to investigate clergy abuse
The New Jersey State House. / Credit: Felix Lipov/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 10:37 am (CNA). The New Jersey government will be allowed to assemble a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse there, the state Supre... [...]
New Jersey Supreme Court Says State Can Empanel Grand Jury to Investigate Clergy Abuse
iweta0077 The judge said that Father Guidry showed no remorse or had any sense that he had done anything wrong. The court’s decision comes just over a month after the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, said it would drop its fight against the state’s efforts to empanel the grand jury.
Long-buried claim of rapist priest at Catholic summer camp puts N.H.’s statute of limitations to the test - The Boston Globe
More than 20 years after claims of child sexual abuse rocked the Catholic Church, states are still figuring out who can be held accountable, and how.
Clergy abuse allegations against Diocese of Camden can be investigated by grand jury, N.J. Supreme Court rules
A New Jersey Supreme Court ruling will allow the state to advance its grand jury investigation into decades of clergy abuse, ending a seven-year legal battle that had been secretly mounted by the Diocese of Camden in South Jersey.
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