News Releases

St. Cecilia Parish first to fingerprint employees, volunteers

From The Catholic Spirit,
March 4, 2004 Vol. 9, No.2

By Charissa M. Carroll
Head Staff Writer

When Patty Murtha let employees and volunteers in St. Cecilia Parish, Monmouth Junction, know that they would be getting fingerprinted and have background checks, the comment she heard most often was, "What took you so long?"

Murtha, who is the parish background check coordinator and former parish secretary, said the enthusiastic cooperation she received from her faith community was not surprising. "There was not one complaint," she said of the Feb. 10 fingerprinting session. "It speaks volumes about the people who serve here in the parish.

"The parish is the first in the diocese to be fingerprinted, which is now a mandatory step in Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski’s plan to prevent child sexual abuse. Murtha said 69 parish employees and volunteers who work with youth were fingerprinted during the session; an additional 25 who had scheduling conflicts will go through the process in the near future.

Law enforcement officers Joseph Boguszewicz and Jim Deery, both parishioners, were in charge of the fingerprinting, while a member of KidSafe, a national child safety organization, was on hand to take photos of each individual and ensure the personal information provided was accurate.

KidSafe then forwards all information to the state police, who perform background checks on everyone who was fingerprinted. These results will be shared with the parish in about 4-5 weeks.

Murtha, who is also a facilitator for Protecting God’s Children, said that as the mother of four children – including a four-year-old daughter, she is conscious of the dangers in society.

"I realize my daughter is out at school and in the world and I can’t protect her from everything," she said. "I need to rely on the people that have been entrusted to her care. That’s why here in this parish, we are committed to ensuring that everything that can be done to create a safe environment for our children is done."

*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law

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