4 Ex-Assumption Priests Named On Church Sex Abuse List

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Four priests who have served at Assumption in Morristown faced credible sexual abuse allegations, the Diocese of Paterson said.

Francis Dennehy, John Derricks, Allen Stepien, William Winston all served at Assumption and have all faced abuse allegations, the Diocese said. All four served at other North Jersey churches during their careers (you can find a full list of churches at the bottom of this article).

The priests were included on a list of 28 from the Diocese of Paterson who face credible abuse allegations. All the priests are either deceased, removed from the ministry, or laicized.

"Such misconduct by those ordained as ministers of our faith can never be tolerated. The faithful of our diocese have a right to know that the diocese is doing everything it can to ensure the safety of our children and to report perpetrators to law enforcement authorities," Bishop Arthur Serratelli said in a letter.

Dennehy faced multiple allegations after his death in 1995. One of those allegations was settled for $50,000 in 2005.

Derricks was accused of one instance of sexual abuse involving a teenage girl in the 1950s and 1960s. He was deemed too old for a church trial in 2004, and in 2010.

Stepien was removed from the ministry in 2002 after facing multiple accusations dating back to the 1980s.

Winston also faced one accusation, and was removed from ministry in 2004 before being laicized in 2007. He was found guilty in 2006 of assaulting his wife, harassing his children and fondling a young boy; he served six months. (Winston married while serving as an Episcopal pastor, and was allowed to stay married when he converted to Catholicism.)

The Archdiocese of Newark and the Dioceses of Camden, Trenton, Paterson and Metuchen said they are committed to the establishment of a "Victim Compensation and Counseling Program."
This program will provide the resources to compensate those victims of child sexual abuse by clergy and employees of the Dioceses in New Jersey whose financial claims are legally barred by New Jersey's statute of limitations, according to the authorities.

Authorities said the program also will assure that victims who have not received any financial compensation will be paid, regardless of whether their claims meet the time requirements of the statute of limitations.

"While this is a positive first step towards transparency and accountability, I hope this spirit of openness continues during the course of our ongoing investigation and in response to our requests for records and information," Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.

The Attorney General's Office urges survivors and others with information to contact its toll-free tip line, 855-363-6548, which is staffed by trained professionals on a 24/7 basis.

Here is a list of where all the accused priests also served:

Francis Dennehy

• Our Lady of Victories, Paterson
• Chaplain U.S. Navy
• Assumption, Morristown
• Chaplain, St. Joseph Hospital, Paterson
• St. Nicholas, Passaic
• St. Vincent DePaul, Stirling
• St. Therese, Paterson
• St. Pius X, Montville
• St. Thomas, Ogdensburg
• St. Christopher, Parsippany
• Immaculate Conception, Franklin
• Our Lady Queen of Peace Cathedral, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Chaplain, Wayne General Hospital and Chilton Hospital, Wayne

John Derricks

• St. Joseph, Paterson
• Holy Spirit, Pequannock
• Assumption, Morristown

Allen Stepien

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

William Winston

• Corpus Christi, Chatham
• St. Patrick, Chatham
• Assumption, Morristown
• St. Virgil, Morris Plains

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