Clergy and church abuse
New Jersey Clergy and Church Sexual Abuse Lawyer
If a priest, minister, rabbi, imam, youth pastor or any other religious figure sexually abused you, you can usually bring a civil claim against that person and against the church, parish, diocese or order that placed them and kept them there. You do not need a police report or a criminal conviction, and you do not need to still belong to the congregation, or to any faith at all.
Free, confidential, and no obligation. You decide what happens next, and you can stop at any point.
- NJ Bar No. 032141988Verifiable, and published here so you can check it
- 37 yearsAdmitted in New Jersey in 1989
- No fee unless you winCases are handled on contingency
- Free and confidentialNothing you say here commits you to anything
What stops people calling about this
Clergy cases carry their own particular obstacles, and none of them are legal ones.
“It would be an attack on the church itself.”
A claim is about the conduct of specific people and the decisions of a specific organization. It is not a claim about a faith, and a great many people who bring these claims still hold the beliefs they were raised in. What was done to them was done by a person, and covered by an institution, and neither is the same thing as a religion.
“I told someone in the church and it went nowhere.”
This is one of the most common accounts we hear, and it strengthens a case rather than weakening it. A report that was received and not acted on is evidence of knowledge. Organizations record more than they later admit, and internal correspondence about a complaint tends to survive.
“They offered me something, so it must be settled.”
Diocesan and denominational compensation programs are not the same as a claim. They set their own amounts, they are run by or for the organization, and they almost always require you to give up the right to bring anything else. Understanding what is being asked for in exchange is worth doing before signing, not after.
“It was decades ago.”
Delay of decades is the norm in clergy cases, not the exception, and New Jersey law changed in 2019 in a way that matters a great deal to abuse from long ago. Many people who were told years ago that they were out of time were told that under rules that no longer apply in the same form.
Can you sue a church in New Jersey?
In most circumstances, yes. A religious organization is not immune from civil claims, and a claim can be brought whether or not there was ever a criminal charge. The civil case asks a different question to a lower standard of proof: not whether someone should be imprisoned, but whether you were harmed and who is answerable.
Claims are usually brought against both the individual and the organization, because the organization is the one whose decisions allowed the individual access, and the one able to answer for it.
Who is legally responsible
The theories are the same ones that apply to any institution, and each is a separate route.
- Negligent hiring or placement. Someone was ordained, appointed or assigned without the checks that should have preceded it, or with information that was known and set aside.
- Negligent supervision. Unsupervised access to children through altar service, youth groups, choirs, confession, private lessons, retreats, overnight trips and pastoral visits at home.
- Negligent retention. The pattern with the greatest weight in these cases: a complaint made, and the person kept in ministry, sent for treatment and returned, or transferred to another parish where nobody was told.
- Failure to report. New Jersey requires anyone with reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused to report it to the state.
- Responsibility above the parish. A diocese, a religious order or a national denominational body frequently made the assignment decisions, and is frequently the entity that holds both the records and the insurance.
How institutions are held liable for sexual abuse in New Jersey
The settings these claims come from
Named as neutral context. This site does not publish accusations against identifiable individuals.
- Parish priests, ministers, pastors, rabbis and imams
- Youth pastors and youth ministry leaders
- Deacons, seminarians and lay staff
- Altar service, choir and music ministry
- Religious instruction and confirmation classes
- Parochial and religious schools, and their staff
- Church-run camps, retreats and mission trips
- Pastoral counseling, including of adults
- Church-run childcare and after-school programs
Abuse at a religious school during the school day may fit better with the teacher and school abuse page, and the two frequently overlap.
Abuse of adults by clergy
Worth stating separately, because people assume these claims are only about children. A member of the clergy holds continuing authority over adults, particularly in pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, and at moments of bereavement, illness or crisis. A sexual relationship that begins there is not a relationship between equals, and the law does not treat it as one.
What to do now
None of this is required before calling.
- Do not sign anything from a compensation program, and do not agree to meet the organization to discuss a resolution, before taking advice on what it would cost you.
- Do not raise it with the parish as a formal complaint first. An internal process, once started, is run by the organization you may be bringing a claim against.
- Keep anything you still have. Letters, parish bulletins and newsletters, photographs, confirmation and service records, and any correspondence about a previous report.
Emergency and hotline numbers, including the New Jersey child abuse hotline, are at the foot of every page on this site.
What a claim can recover
Typically the cost of counseling and treatment already had and still needed, the effect on education, work and earnings, and the harm itself. Every claim turns on its own facts. There is no fee unless a claim succeeds, and no cost to asking whether you have one.
How long do you have to file in New Jersey?
If you were abused as a child, you can generally bring a civil claim in New Jersey until your 55th birthday, or within seven years of realizing that your injuries are connected to the abuse, whichever of those is later.
If you were an adult when the abuse happened, the period is generally seven years from the incident, or seven years from the point at which you connected the harm to it.
New Jersey also ran a two-year lookback window, from December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2021, during which claims that had already expired could be brought regardless of age. That window has closed. It is worth being clear about, because people hear that it closed and conclude they have missed everything, when the ordinary deadlines above are separate and often still leave years.
Which of these applies to you, and when your seven years started, depends on facts specific to you. A short confidential call will tell you where you actually stand.
Free, confidential, and no obligation. You decide what happens next, and you can stop at any point.
Cases Joe has resolved
-
$6.1 Million Recovery
for a woman who was sexually assaulted after being overserved alcohol.
-
$4.5 Million Settlement
for a minor who was sexually abused as a student by a staff member at her public school.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstance. Every case turns on its own facts, and no result here predicts what any other case is worth.
Questions people ask
Can I sue a church for sexual abuse in New Jersey?
In most circumstances, yes. A religious organization is not immune from a civil claim, and the claim is usually not only against the individual. Where a parish, diocese or order failed to screen someone, failed to supervise them, or moved them after a complaint, that conduct is its own basis for responsibility.
What if the priest is dead, or has already left the ministry?
A claim can still proceed. The organization's responsibility does not end when the individual dies, resigns or is laicized, and in practice the institutional claim is the substantial one anyway. Records about that person usually still exist.
The diocese has a compensation program. Should I use that instead?
You should at least understand what you are giving up before you accept anything from one. These programs generally require a release of all claims, they set their own amounts, and they are administered by or for the organization you would otherwise be bringing a claim against. Ask before you sign, not after.
I already told the church years ago and nothing happened.
That is unfortunately common, and legally it helps rather than hurts. A report the organization received and did not act on is direct evidence of what it knew, and it is usually documented somewhere internally even when nothing visible followed.
Does this only apply to the Catholic church?
No. The same principles apply to any religious body, including Protestant denominations, independent and evangelical congregations, synagogues, mosques and temples. The structure differs and the legal theories do not.
I no longer have any faith. Does that affect a claim?
Not at all. Leaving a religion, or never having belonged to it, has nothing to do with whether a claim exists. Many survivors of clergy abuse left, and that is frequently part of the harm rather than a complication for the case.
Will my family or my congregation find out?
Not from us. A first conversation is confidential, and nothing becomes public because you asked a question. If a claim is filed, what that means is discussed with you beforehand and the decision is yours.
What if it happened when I was an adult?
A claim can still exist. Clergy hold authority over people well beyond childhood, particularly in pastoral counseling, and abuse of an adult in that relationship is not treated as an ordinary relationship between equals.
If you are still reading
People usually read a page like this several times over several weeks before they contact anyone. That is normal, and there is no deadline on this page trying to push you. When you are ready, the call is free and it stays between you and Joe.
Free, confidential, and no obligation. You decide what happens next, and you can stop at any point.