Man killed in N.J. crash was former Nebraska priest convicted of kid intercourse assault

A pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run crash earlier this month in New Jersey served as a Catholic priest in Nebraska within the Eighties earlier than he was convicted of sexual assault of a kid, in response to information accounts and a report by the Nebraska lawyer common.

Paul F. Margand, 65, of Deptford Township, died Sept. 1 after he was struck by a automotive whereas strolling alongside Cattel Street in Deptford shortly earlier than 9:30 p.m., in response to township police. He was taken to Cooper College Hospital in Camden, the place he died a short while later.

The driving force didn’t cease, police stated.

Matthew B. Jefferson, 25, of Deptford, was later recognized because the motorist, Deptford police stated. He was charged with second-degree leaving the scene of a motorcar accident leading to demise and fourth-degree tampering with proof.

Margand was serving as a priest at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, within the Eighties when he was accused of sexually assaulting two boys, in response to information accounts from the time and a abstract of allegations compiled by Nebraska authorities.

He pleaded no contest to 1 depend of getting sexual contact with a baby and was sentenced to between 20 months and 5 years of psychiatric therapy and jail time in 1988, in response to newspaper reviews and jail information.

In 1990, he was ordered to serve the rest of his sentence in jail after receiving therapy at a psychiatric hospital in Lincoln, in response to one other information account.

He was launched from jail in January 1991, Nebraska jail information point out.

After his launch, the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska despatched a memorandum to all bishops in the USA declaring that Margand was “not a priest in good standing,” in response to a clergy intercourse abuse report issued final yr by the Nebraska Lawyer Basic’s Workplace.

That report — which is analogous to reviews produced by attorneys common in different states outlining how intercourse abuse allegations had been dealt with by native church buildings — detailed “credible allegations” of sexual abuse and misconduct in Nebraska relationship again to the Nineteen Thirties. They concerned 57 church officers, together with Margand, and 258 alleged victims statewide.

Margand moved a number of occasions following his launch from jail and was laicized — which means he was stripped of his clerical standing — by the Catholic Church in 2004, in response to the report.

Police in New Jersey are nonetheless making an attempt to find out if Margand was strolling within the lane of journey when he was hit or on the shoulder of the roadway, authorities stated final week. Officers didn’t instantly reply to requests for added details about the investigation Friday.

Our journalism wants your assist. Please subscribe right now to NJ.com.

Matt Grey could also be reached at mgray@versuszone.com.