DEPTFORD, N.J. (1010 WINS) — A pedestrian killed earlier this month in a hit-and-run crash in New Jersey was a Catholic priest in Nebraska in the 1980s before being convicted of child sex assault.
LISTEN TO 1010 WINS
Paul F. Margand, 65, was struck on Sept. 1 while walking westbound on the 1000 block of Cattel Road in Deptford just before 9:30 p.m.
Margand was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Deptford Police said the driver, later identified as 25-year-old Matthew Jefferson, kept driving. He was charged with second-degree leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in death and fourth-degree tampering with evidence.
Margand was a priest at St. Teresa's Catholic Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the 1980s when he was accused of sexually assaulting two boys, according to NJ.com, which reviewed news reports and a summary of allegations compiled by Nebraska police.
He pleaded no contest to one count of having sexual contact with a child and was sentenced in 1988 to between 20 months and five years of psychiatric treatment and prison time.
Margand was ordered in 1990 to serve the rest of his sentence in prison after receiving treatment at a Lincoln psychiatric hospital, according to the report.
When he was released from prison in January 1991, the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska said in a memo sent to all U.S. bishops that Margand was "not a priest in good standing," a report by the Nebraska attorney general's office said.
The investigation, which revealed that up to five victims came forward to report him to police, found that Margand moved several times after his prison sentence and that he was "laicized," or stripped of his clerical status, in 2004.
New Jersey police are reportedly still trying to determine if the 65-year-old was struck while he was walking in the lane of moving traffic or on the shoulder of the road.
Related
Related
