Roman Catholic priest from New Jersey claimed he was collecting child pornography in order to get "revenge" on God

Yet another sordid scandal involving a Roman Catholic priest; the reader will notice the duplicity on the part of the Archdiocese of Newark in their rationale for reinstating a man who clearly was unfit for the priesthood. As reported by Associated Press, August 25, 2017:

HONESDALE, Pa. (AP) — A New Jersey priest says he was trying to get revenge on God for poker losses when he collected computerized child pornography at his weekend home in Pennsylvania, according to his attorney and court records.

The Rev. Kevin Gugliotta was sentenced Thursday to 11½ to 23½ months in the Wayne County jail, receiving credit for 10 months he’s already served. He pleaded guilty in March to a single count of disseminating child pornography after prosecutors dropped dozens of other charges that he possessed and distributed child porn.

Pretrial records show the 55-year-old Gugliotta told probation officers he felt God was attacking him when he lost poker tournaments and games, and got “revenge” by collecting the porn.

“That was his reason,” defense attorney James Swetz said. “He’s not happy that’s how he felt, as the judge indicated. There are other ways to handle issues and handle anger.”

Jim Goodness, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Newark, said Gugliotta has been removed from public ministry since church officials learned of the investigation in September.

Additional discipline, including possible removal from the priesthood, is possible “now that the process in the courts have been completed,” Goodness said. “We’ve also kept Rome abreast of the situation.”

The Monroe County, Pennsylvania district attorney’s office last August was investigating child pornography and determined some had been uploaded to a computer at Gugliotta’s weekend home in Gouldsboro. The tiny Pennsylvania hamlet is about 90 miles west of Holy Spirit Church, where he served as parochial vicar in Union, New Jersey.

Monroe County authorities alerted those in Wayne County, who tried to search the Gouldsboro home in September. But authorities couldn’t find Gugliotta at home and couldn’t lure him there using a ruse so they could search the computer before he had a chance to destroy the evidence.

Wayne County authorities wound up tracking down the priest at the New Jersey church where they interviewed him and found his laptop computer in the church rectory.

Gugliotta had previously been suspended from ministry in 2003 for allegedly molesting a teenage boy in the 1980s. But because the incident occurred when he was still a layman and before he entered the priesthood, the Archdiocese of Newark ruled he could not be punished and quietly reinstated him in 2004.

He went on to have a long career in the priesthood, including ministering to youth groups.

And as reported by Joseph Kohut of the Scranton Times-Tribune, August 25, 2017:

A Roman Catholic priest from New Jersey caught up in a Wayne County child pornography probe will spend 11½ to 23½ months in jail.

The Rev. Kevin A. Gugliotta, 55, of Mahwah, was sentenced Thursday by President Judge Raymond L. Hamill.

The sentence includes the more than 300 days Gugliotta already has spent in jail, so he could be eligible for parole in about 1½ months, his attorney, James Swetz, said.

Gugliotta pleaded guilty in March to one count of dissemination of child pornography. In October, Wayne County detectives filed more than 40 felony counts of possessing and disseminating child pornography against him for uploading files from a Lehigh Twp. apartment he referred to as his “day-off place,” investigators said.

The Archdiocese of Newark removed Gugliotta from ministry and ordered he vacate his assignment at the Holy Spirit Church in Union, New Jersey, upon learning of the allegations against him. He remains out of ministry, and the Vatican was notified of the court developments to date, Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said. Gugliotta had been a priest in that archdiocese since his ordination in 1996.

Between July 9 and Aug. 29, 2016, Gugliotta uploaded 20 files depicting children engaged in sexual activity to internet chat rooms. Detectives tracked the activity back to Gugliotta.

Swetz said he was pleased with the sentence, which includes five years of probation after Gugliotta’s time in jail.

Gugliotta also must register as a sex offender for the next 25 years.

“This priest’s actions support the victimization of children and must be severely punished,” Wayne County District Attorney Janine Edwards said in a statement. “With no one to watch child porn, our children would not be subject to the horrors of exploitation. I am very pleased he was caught.”