Twice-Vandalized Clergy Sex Abuse Monument Rededicated

The damage physical damage to the monument may not be repaired, but to those assembled outside of St. Joseph’s Church in Mendham Borough on Sunday, it hardly mattered.

The crowd was there for the third time to rededicate the memorial to child victims of clergy sex abuse that was destroyed twice in as many years. Fittingly, the ceremony was scheduled just before the close of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The third dedication of the monument focused on female victims of clergy sex abuse. Angela Rose of Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE), an organization dedicated to “shattering the silence of sexual violence,” traveled from Washington, DC to speak at the event. Rose was tweeting before the event started about the number of people assembled and described the day as “incredible.” New York City sex crimes prosecutor Jill Starishevsky, author of “My Body Belongs to Me,” also spoke.

The monument was designed and built as a memorial to the victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and was dedicated in 2004 at St. Joseph's where James T. Hanley, a pastor who has been defrocked, admitted to molesting children decades ago.

The first incident of vandalism of the statue dates back to November of 2011, when police charged Gordon D. Ellis with using a sledgehammer to destroy the monument.

The monument was rebuilt and rededicated last April.

Mendham Borough resident Patrick Kelly, who said he was one of the men sexually abused as a child at St. Joseph's, said he saw this latest act of vandalism as a minor setback.

"The spirit of what this monument represents cannot be destroyed by acts of vandalism just as what happened at St. Joseph church years ago cannot be forgotten," Kelly said. "This monument, dedicated to those who were sexually abused by priests, transcends the little town of Mendham, New Jersey. It is also a reminder to the world that the protection of our children is the duty of every citizen. We will rebuild the monument again and again, if need be."

Patrick Kelly’s brother, James Kelly, killed himself at the age of 37 by placing himself in front of an oncoming train in Morristown. It was James Kelly’s suicide that led to Bill Crane Jr., another man abused by Hanley, to begin the campaign to place the monument outside St. Joseph.

As WCBS 880 reported that Mark Crawford of the New Jersey Chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the damaged memorial itself is symbolic.

“Not unlike victims of sexual abuse we’re often re-victimized,” Crawford said.

After the second defacing, Mendham Borough Mayor Neil Henry said a security camera should be aimed at the memorial.

“I can guarantee this will never happen again,” Henry said.

The church agreed with Henry, and as funds are being raised to repair the monument, the church has also increased security by installing more lights and cameras.

Mendham Borough Police Chief Pasquale Libertino said his department did not have a suspect and were still investigating.

“At this point, it could be kids, it could be anyone,” Libertino said.

The monument was defaced for the second time in the early morning hours of March 7. That was the day brothers, Bill Crane Jr., and Thomas Crane were scheduled to go to court in their lawsuit against Delbarton and St. Mary’s Abbey for failing to stop alleged sexual abuse by Rev. Luke Travers, who served as Delbarton headmaster from 1999 to 2007.

Libertino said that his department was aware of the date coincidence, but there was nothing to support a connection between the two incidents.

Anyone with any additional information about the vandalism is encouraged to contact the Mendham Borough Police or Morris County Crime Stoppers via telephone at 973-COP-Call (973-267-2255) or online.

Morris Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $2,000 reward for information that results in an arrest.

"I’m hoping the reward money will encourage someone to do the right thing and call Crime Stoppers," Kelly said.