Sex-predator priest nabbed by NJ’s new hotline gets prison

A Catholic priest got four years in prison after he confessed to sexually assaulting a teen girl over several years at his former church in Woodbridge.

Thomas P. Ganley, 64, of Phillipsburg, was sentenced Monday in Superior Court in New Brunswick.

He pleaded guilty in April to second-degree sexual assault and is the first to be charged and convicted by the Clergy Abuse Task Force formed by state Attorney General Grewal in September 2018.

Ganley was a priest at St. Cecelia Church in the Iselin section of the township when the criminal acts occurred from 1990 through 1994, prosecutors said.

He admitted that he engaged in sexual acts with the victim when she was 16 or 17 years old, during a time when he had supervisory authority as head of the parish's Youth Ministry, according to Grewal.

Ganley also will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, and will be prohibited from having any contact with the victim or unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

The Clergy Abuse Hotline, at 855-363-6548, is staffed by trained professionals and operated on a 24/7 basis. More than 540 calls have been received through the hotline to date.

More from New Jersey 101.5: