Here Are The 3 Brick Priests On The 'Credibly Accused' List

BRICK, 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 three accused abusers with ties to Brick.

All three have been permanently restricted from the priesthood due to the allegations.

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 Brick ties:

William J. McKeone

Status: McKeone, who's in his early 70s, was ordained in 1969 and has been removed from the ministry. His parish assignment at St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church in Brick was his first assignment. It's not clear how long he was there but he was assigned to St. Denis in Manasquan after that. He was accused by multiple victims, according to the Diocese of Trenton.

Richard C. Brietske

Status: Brietske, who is in his early 80s, was ordained in 1962 and later removed from the ministry. He had a lengthy list of parish assignments, including a stint as the chaplain at then Monmouth College and at St. Dominic in Brick. His last position was as chancellor of the diocese. He had one reported victim, according to the diocese.

Robert J. Parenti

Parenti, who turns 81 this year, was ordained in 1972 and has been removed from ministry. The Diocese of Trenton reported he had multiple victims. He had four assignments: St. Veronica in Howell. He also served at St. Denis in Manasquan; Church of the Assumption in New Egypt and Our Lady of Peace in Normandy Beach.

Related: Trenton Diocese Lists Parishes For Priests Accused Of Sex Abuse

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.

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