Brother Francis (Frank) Nugent (Salesian)
Archdiocese of Newark
Ordained: 1956
Died: 2011
Assigned as follows:
- 1957: Unknown
- 1958-1959: Sacred Heart Juniorate (Ipswich, MA)
- 1960-1973: Salesian High School (New Rochelle, NY)
- 1974-1978: Don Bosco High School (Ramsey, NJ)
- 1979: Unknown
- 1980-1981: Don Bosco Retreat Center (West Haverstraw, NY)
- 1982-1995: Sacred Heart Retreat House (Ipswich, MA)
- 1996-1998: Salesian Residence (South Orange, NJ)
- 1999: The Salesian Community (Orange, NJ)
- 2000-2002: The Salesian Community (Orange, NJ; Salesians of Don Bosco, S.D.B. (Orange, NJ)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Brother Francis (Frank) Nugent:
Brother Francis (Frank) Nugent was ordained a priest of the Salesians Order in 1956 and served in the Archdiocese of Newark. He served in multiple parishes throughout his career. He was the director of the Salesians’ Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, NJ, and ran a youth camp in Ellenville, NY.
According to media reports, in 1994, a woman reported that Brother Nugent abused her when she was 14, as well as, two of her minor brothers. She said the monk repeatedly abused one of her brothers and he had become suicidal. In 1980, he drove a car owned by the Salesians into a pond and died. He was 25.
Brother Nugent was removed from his position as director of a youth retreat in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He was sent for therapy and reassigned to another parish upon his return. The woman again reported the abuse to the Order in 1998. She subsequently filed a civil suit, which was settled for $250,000 later that year.
She said, “The press has to keep up coverage of female victims so that more people come forward. I told my story because I thought it would do some good — that others would see Father Nugent’s name and come forward. He was working for years with children.”
In October 2002, Brother Nugent was named in a civil lawsuit filed by four former students of a Salesian Junior Seminary. The suit alleged they were repeatedly sexually molested by members of the religious order while living at the seminary between 1969 and 1973.
Brother Nugent died in January 2011. He is listed on the Salesian’s 2021 List of Clergy Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
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