Churches announce arrest of NJ deacon facing child porn charges

A longtime Catholic deacon and religion teacher at parishes in Morris, Sussex and Bergen counties has been accused of possessing and distributing child pornography.

Bruce Olsen, 66, of Hackettstown, was arrested and faces two counts of endangering the welfare of a child — for distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material, according to Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer.

A search warrant was carried out in Allamuchy after a two-month investigation prompted by a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Olsen had been a permanent deacon since being ordained as one in 2001 — most recently at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Sparta.

He also had been a religious education coordinator at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Washington Township in Bergen County.

Following his arrest, Olsen was immediately removed from both of those roles.

Within the Diocese of Paterson, before his post in Sparta, Olsen had previously served as deacon at St. Therese Parish in the Succasunna area of Roxbury.

Olsen had also taught religion at St. Therese School, for a span starting in 2014, according to his LinkedIn account.

His child endangerment arrest was announced last weekend at Mass at both St. Therese and St. Kateri Tekakwitha, by the Diocese of Paterson — as well as by the Archdiocese of Newark at Our Lady of Good Counsel.

The Prosecutor’s Offices in Warren, Sussex, Morris and Bergen Counties have all been notified of the case.

Olsen had been a teacher at a number of Catholic schools in North Jersey, according to his LinkedIn account — which said that Olsen previously taught theology at Bergen Catholic High School for over 12 years ending in 2011.

Before that, his account lists him as teaching the same subject at Queen Of Peace High School in North Arlington, Paramus Catholic High School and Bayley-Ellard High School in Madison.

“The Archdiocese of Newark strictly follows policies and procedures in line with protecting all the faithful and providing safe environments throughout the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese takes seriously all complaints of misconduct by members of the clergy, religious, lay staff and volunteers of the Archdiocese of Newark,��� a spokesperson said to New Jersey 101.5 on Thursday.

The Diocese of Paterson has an Office of Child and Youth Protection for reporting incidents of misconduct, while the Diocese of Newark has a similar office within its ​​Department for the Protection of the Faithful.

Olsen has posted videos of his homilies and other religious reflections to Youtube, as Deacon Bruce.

Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com

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