Father Randal (James) Gillette
Diocese of Metuchen
Ordained: 1971
Removed: N/A
Assigned as follows:
- 1971-1974 St. Michael’s Monastery (Union City, NJ)
- 1974-1978 St. Gabriel (Boston, MA)
- 1978-1987 St. Patrick (Mexico City, MX)
- 1987-1993 Foreign Mission (Honduras)
- 1993-1994 St. Paul of the Cross Monastery (Pittsburgh, PA)
- 1994-1998 Unknown
- 1998-2004 St. Vincent’s Residence (Pelham Manor, NY)
- 2001-2004 New York Passionist Communications, Inc. (Pelham, NY)
- 2004-2008 Unknown
- 2008-2011 Passionist Residence (Bronx, NY)
- 2012-2019 Unknown
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Randal (James) Gillette:
Father Randal (James) Gillette was a priest of the Passionist order who served in the Diocese of Metuchen as well as in the Dioceses/Archdioceses of Newark, Boston, Mexico City, Pittsburgh, New York, and Honduras. According to media reports, the release of his personnel file in January 2003 revealed in a September 2002 letter that Father Gillette was accused of sexually assaulting a minor boy at St. Gabriel’s in Brighton in 1972. No other information was found.
His name was not included in the 2011 Archdiocese of Boston’s list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors because he was a religious order priest. In June 2015, at least one civil claim against Father Gillette, the Archdiocese of Boston, the Archdiocese of Newark, and the Passionists was settled.
In August 2015, a man alleged that he was sexually molested, abused, and assaulted by Father Gillette while he served at St. Michael’s Monastery in Union City from 1971 to 1974. He was transferred to St. Gabriel’s Parish in Boston, MA.
According to media reports, in January 2020, Father Gillette was sentenced to five years of house arrest for sexually abusing two children in the 1970s. He pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston to two counts of unnatural and lascivious acts on a child for offenses committed when he was a priest in Boston.
The 77-year-old was ordered to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet until the end of his sentence, register as a sex offender, undergo sex offender treatment and stay away from the survivors and any witnesses in the case. He must also have no one-on-one contact with any child under the age of 18 unless the minor’s parents are present.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Metuchen in New Jersey. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New Jersey, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Metuchen 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.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.