New Jersey Priest Abuse Hotline Gets So Many Calls That People Can’t Get Through
By David G. McAfee September 15, 2018

A hotline set up by New Jersey officials for citizens to report sexual abuse by priests was so overwhelmed with calls that the state had to assign more workers to the hotline — and people are still having trouble getting through.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal launched a special task force to look into allegations of sexual abuse within the state’s branches of the Catholic Church, and part of that included a call-in center for victims to give tips to investigators… and those tips haven’t stopped coming in.

[Spokesman for the Division of Criminal Justice Peter Aseltine], who would not disclose how many calls have been received, said the state has taken steps to ensure that the hotline is adequately staffed. Calls yesterday to the toll-free number, (855) 363-6548, were being answered almost immediately.

The move by New Jersey to set up a task force and hotline was taken in the wake of the explosive Pennsylvania grand jury report released in August, which detailed in graphic terms the sex abuse by hundreds of priests who had preyed upon children for decades.

In an interview with NPR, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said the response underscored the need to have hotlines across the country, “because I am certain that this abuse, given the pattern and practices that the Pennsylvania report identified, was not limited to the Northeast.”

Why was the line so overwhelmed? Perhaps because of how much Church leaders have downplayed the scandals and covered up for fellow priests. Perhaps because more people are willing to speak out when they believe investigators will actually take them seriously for once. Perhaps because people have seen what’s happened in Pennsylvania and Boston and have been waiting for the opportunity to tell someone their own stories. When people in power are honestly listening, it’s not surprising that stories will pour out of people who have been afraid to speak out.