Father Thomas Stanford (a/k/a Thomas Stamford)
Archdiocese of Newark
Ordained: 1979
Removed: 2008
Assigned as follows:
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Oakland, NJ)
- St. Margaret of Cortona (Little Ferry, NJ)
- St. Luke (Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Thomas Stanford:
Father Thomas Stanford was ordained a priest in 1979 and served in the Archdiocese of Newark. According to media reports, in a December 2010 testimony before the NJ Senate Judiciary Committee, an adult man said he was abused by Father Stanford (also spelled Stamford), while a teenager in 1977 at St. Paul's in Jersey City. He was a deacon at the time, prior to his ordination to the priesthood. The man said he told Father Stanford about being sexually abused by the church's young music director. "I thought I could trust him," he said.
Father Stanford did not report the boy's abuse by the music director. Instead, the man says, Father Stanford also abused the boy, often plying him with drugs and alcohol, over the course of the next four years.
In 2008, the plaintiff settled with the Archdiocese of Newark for an undisclosed six-figure sum, according to media reports.
Father Stanford left the priesthood in the mid-1980s. He worked as lay employee for the Diocese of Paterson as manager of the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa and as a part-time music manager for Holy Cross Parish in Wayne until he was fired and permanently removed from the ministry (laicized) after the settlement in 2008.
In February 2019, Father Stanford's name appeared on the Archdiocese of Newark's list of credibly accused priests, with an indication that Stanford was credibly accused "multiple" times.
He is believed to be residing in the Manchester, New Jersey, area.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused in the Archdiocese of Newark, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Newark now have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in New Jersey and nationwide. We can help.
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