1 Basking Ridge Priest Named On The 'Credibly Accused' List

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The journalism site ProPublica, a Patch Partner, recently released the most comprehensive list so far of Catholic clergy "credibly accused" of sexual abuse. The list includes one accused abusers with ties to Basking Ridge.

The priest has since passed away.

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 is the one priest on the ProPublic list with Basking Ridge ties:

J. Gerard Griffin

Griffin, who was born in 1908 and ordained in 1938, served at a number of parishes including locally at St. James in Basking Ridge. He also served at St. Paul in Burlington, St. Mary in Perth Amboy, St. Joseph in North Plainfield, Our Lady, Queen of Peace in Fords, Blessed Sacrament in Trenton, St. Anthony in Red Bank, Holy Cross in Rumson, Sacred Heart in Trenton, St. Peter in New Brunswick, and Our Lady of Mercy in Englishtown. He has died.

ProPublica's project was spurred by a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report, which named hundreds of priests as part of a statewide clergy abuse investigation.

Nationwide, the names of more than 5,800 clergy members have been released so far, representing the most comprehensive step toward transparency yet by a Catholic Church dogged by its long history of denying and burying abuse by priests.

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