Father Robert Morel
Archdiocese of Newark
Ordained: 1969
Elevated to Monsignor: 1993
Removed: 1993
Died: 1999
Assigned as follows:
- Our Lady Of the Visitation, (Paramus, NJ)
- Catholic Community Services, (Newark, NJ)
- St. Joseph, (Jersey City, NJ)
- St. Peter the Apostle, (River Edge, NJ)
- Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, (Roseland, NJ)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Robert Morel:
Father Robert Morel was ordained a priest in 1969 and served in the Archdiocese of Newark. He served in multiple parishes throughout his career. According to media reports, in 1993, he was charged with touching an 18-year-old boy's genitals after a party to celebrate the priest's promotion to monsignor. Initially, Morel vehemently denied the charges, but later gave a voluntary statement admitting to the abuse when interviewed by the Bergen County Prosecutor. He reportedly told investigators the incident was "a lapse of judgment," and agreed to undergo counseling. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick placed Father Morel on administrative leave.
In 1994, Father Morel pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months probation. Later, he also faced a second allegation of abuse from a Massachusetts man in a federal lawsuit. That man claimed that the priest molested him over an eight-year period, beginning when he was 9 years old and ending about 1981. Father Morel allegedly "continually and repeatedly sexually molested, battered, fondled and masturbated" the victim using "subterfuge, duress and force." He was assigned to the Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church in Roseland at the time of the alleged abuse.
Father Morel lived for several years at St. John Vianney Residence for Retired Priests in Rutherford until his death in 1999.
In February 2019, his name appeared on the Archdiocese of Newark's list of credibly accused priests. No information about the allegations, such as the age/gender of the victims or his assignments at the time of the abuse were disclosed.
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