Here Are 2 Long Valley Priests On The 'Credibly Accused' List

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The journalism site ProPublica, a Patch Partner, has compiled the most comprehensive list so far of Catholic clergy “credibly accused” of sexual abuse. The list includes abusers from Long Valley.

The searchable database — which includes nearly 200 priests accused from the dioceses of Metuchen, Newark, Trenton, Camden and Paterson — comes on the heels of various reports identifying hundreds of "predator" priests across the state.

Related: Full List Released Of NJ Catholic Clergy Accused Of Sex Assault

Here are the priests on the ProPublic list with Long Valley ties:

Allen Stepien
Born 1936, ordained 1965
Multiple accusers; removed from ministry
Assignments:

• St. Rose of Lima, East Hanover
• Assumption, Morristown
• St. Anthony, Hawthorne
• St. Philip, Clifton
• St. Mark, Long Valley

Ralph Sodano
Born 1941, ordained 1967
Four victims, deceased
Assignments:

• St. Brendan, Clifton
• Diocesan Director of Catholic Scouting
• Teacher, Pope Pius XII High School, Passaic
• St. Rose of Lima, East Hanover
• Chaplain, United States Navy
• Sacred Heart, Dover
• Our Lady of the Mountain, Long Valley

Along with the list, ProPublica outlined the challenges of identifying offenders long after such widespread abuse became known. The database is a collection of 178 lists released by U.S. dioceses and religious orders as of Jan. 20. There are still more than 40 dioceses and religious orders that have not released information, including five out of seven Florida dioceses.

New Jersey enacted a law last month that extends the statute of limitations in civil actions on sexual abuse claims, creating a two-year window to file cases for which the statute of limitations had previously expired. A number of law firms have announced they were filing lawsuits. Attorneys from Rebenack, Aronow & Mascolo, LLP and Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC (PCVA) said they planned to file 38 lawsuits on behalf of dozens of abuse survivors.

The ProPublica project was prompted by a massive grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania that was described by Associated Press as the "biggest and most exhaustive ever" into priest sex abuse by an individual state. The investigation revealed many priests admitted to their actions and were allowed to continue in the ministry for years despite having confessed to molesting children.