Ex-St. Denis Priest In Manasquan Named On Church Sex Abuse List

A former priest at St. Denis Church in Manasquan was named among a list of priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse against them.

Robert J. Parenti, 80, was a priest at St. Denis Church in Manasquan and once served St. Veronica's Catholic Church in Howell, according to The Asbury Park Pess. He was named as the Catholic Church in New Jersey revealed more than 180 names across the state in an effort to help victims heal, church officials said.

The list shows 186 members of the clergy with ties to New Jersey who have faced allegations of child sex abuse. Nearly all of them were either sanctioned by the church, charged with a crime or both. Read More: List Of 186 NJ Priests Accused Of Child Sexual Abuse (UPDATED)

Others from the Manasquan area and Point Pleasant area were:

• Patrick Francis Magee, 77, who was the pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Bay Head, had been arrested in Ireland in 2004 on charges of sexually abusing a child more than 30 years ago. He was charged with "committing an act of gross indecency on or towards a child on a date unknown between Jan. 1, 1965, and Dec. 31, 1969, in the Armagh and South Down area" of Northern Ireland, according to The Asbury Park Press.
• Liam Minogue once served at St. Martha's Church in Point Pleasant, among other churches, according to The Asbury Park Press. He died in 2007.
• Romannilo Apura was first arrested at his residence at St. Martha Parish in 2014 by detectives with the Mercer County Prosecutor's Special Victims Unit, said Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, in a news release. He ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2015. He was released in 2017. Apura was accused of masturbating a teenage male victim in a home in Trenton in the late spring/early summer of 2014. A second incident occurred in June 2014 when Apura attempted to remove the same victim's pants, DeBlasio said.

Mercer County Prosecutor's Office photo