SPRINGFIELD, Mass (WWLP) – A New Jersey priest who is facing multiple counts of sexual abuse of a child under 14 was arraigned in Springfield Thursday morning.
Hampden County District Attorney Office spokesman Jim Leydon told 22News, Rev. Patrick Kuffner was arrested in New Jersey on November 20 and was being held at Toms River without the right to bail.
Kuffner was arraigned Thursday morning at Hampden Superior Court in Springfield and is being held on a $50,000 bail until his bail hearing on December 17.
Kuffner has been indicted by a Hampden County Grand Jury on three charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.
Leydon said the charges are in connection with an incident that occurred in the early ’80s involving three alleged victims while they were visiting Springfield. The charges date back more than three decades ago when Kuffner “was a layperson and while in Massachusetts.”
New Jersey priest facing charges in Springfield for alleged child sexual abuse 35-years-ago.
The priest was ordained in 2002 and was not a member of the clergy at the time of the alleged abuse. The Diocese of Metuchen lists Kuffner as a former pastor of Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish in Middlesex.
Kuffner is among a list of names of clergy currently under investigation by civil authorities.
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