Disgraced Roman Catholic priest Thomas Ganley was sentenced to four years in prison Monday afternoon after pleading guilty to raping and sexually assaulting a minor under the age of 16 in the 1990s.

Ganley, 64, will also register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, is forbidden to contact the victim or her family and cannot be with anyone under the age of 18 unsupervised. He reached a plea agreement with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office after he was arrested in January.

“Not only was he a priest,” Judge Diane Pincus said, “he was a priest in charge of youth activities in the church.”

Ganley is the first priest to be sent behind bars in response to a clergy abuse task force set up by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in September 2018 following a scathing grand jury report out of Pennsylvania detailing decades of sexual abuse and cover ups in the Catholic Church. He was arrested two days after the unidentified victim reported the abuse to the 24-hotline.

Authorities say Ganley raped and sexually assaulted the victim, who was between 14 and 16 years old at the time, between 1991 and 1994 in different states. They met through the church youth group Ganley led while she was in CCD.

One of the first times they were together, Ganley fondled the victim, the judge said during the sentencing. He raped her at least 12 times, including at St. Cecilia’s, a motel and at the victim’s home, she said.

The assaults were done in an “opportunistic and hedonistic manner,” she said.

He visited the victim’s home on New Year’s Day 2019 to “see how she was doing,” he said in a statement, which prompted her to call the hotline. He was arrested after police recorded a phone conversation between them in which he admitted sexually assaulting her decades ago and asked to see her again soon to “catch up.”

The priest, who faces laicization due to his criminal conviction, was supported by a dozen family members and church goers. At the time of his arrest, he was a parochial vicar at St. Philip and St. James Catholic Church in Phillipsburg and a chaplain at St. Luke’s Warren Campus Hospital.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Metuchen said the diocese had never received any allegations against Ganley. He is also included on a list of clergy members under investigation for abuse.

“While his crime is nearly 30 years old, the survivor of his abuse deserves healing and we hope his sentencing and the justice it brings will help to facilitate the healing process,” said spokesman Anthony P. Kearns III.

Prior to the sentencing, he and his supporters joined hands in prayer in the hallway and Ganley took communion.

“It’s a little too late for that,” an onlooker said.

Sporting a bright blue polo, Ganley prayed before the sentencing began. His attorney, William M. Fetky, argued the priest should receive a lighter sentence due to his lack of prior criminal history, the amount of time since the assault occurred and that he led a law-abiding life since sexually assaulting the victim. Fetky offered community service and mental rehabilitation as alternatives to state prison.

Two members of his church spoke in defense of the priest they have known since he entered the priesthood 34 years ago.

Regina Lavin said calmly that she knew the two had a “short-lived relationship" and believed it was consensual. The man she knows from her parish, she said, is “very far removed from this courtroom.”

Ann Foose also spoke in support of Ganley, noting when she heard the news she was devastated and immediately grew concerned about how many children he may have hurt.

Ann Foose, wipes tears from her eyes as she speaks on behalf of Fr. Thomas Ganley, who pleaded guilty in April to sexually assaulting a teenage girl 30 years ago. Ganley was sentenced to four years in prison as he appeared before Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Diane Pincus in New Brunswick. August 26, 2019 (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

Once she heard it was a 16-year-old girl — 14, by the victim’s accounts — she was “really, really, really relieved.”

“I realized it wasn’t a child. It was a girl... I remember her being in high school,” Foose said while crying on the stand. “It was one incident.”

Ganley read a prepared statement, emphasizing he made a mistake and he never meant to hurt anyone. If he knew it would traumatize the girl, he would not have engaged with her, he said.

“We crossed a line when we did,” he said of the relationship with the underage girl, adding there were “some good times we had.”

He noted he asked for forgiveness from God and sought mercy from “proper confessors.” Over the 34 years, he felt he led a “good priesthood” despite breaking his holy vows, he said.

Assistant Prosecutor Alyssa Gamberella disputed that, underlining he was in a position of power not only as a priest, but as the leader of a youth group.

“I can’t think of more of a breach of trust,” she said.

She also alluded that there is evidence indicating there may be other victims that suffered abuse at the hands of Ganley.

Pincus decided the previously agreed four year sentence was appropriate, given his lack of remorse and apology directed specifically at the victim and her trauma.

“It shows how he is such a narcissistic person,” she said. “The concern is only for himself.”

Pincus added that Ganley should have known that sexual abuse between teens and adult men effect victims in many ways for years.

“It’s worse because you weren’t just an adult man. You were a priest,” she said.

Ganley was taken away in handcuffs at the end of the hour-long hearing as his supporters cried in the courtroom. His lawyer said he does not know if they will appeal, which they have 45 days to file.

“We’ll let it sink in,” Fetky said.

Fr. Thomas Ganley who pleaded guilty in April to sexually assaulting a teenage girl 30 years ago was sentenced to four years in prison. He is escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs after being sentenced by Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Diane Pincus in New Brunswick. August 26, 2019 (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

Anyone with information on misconduct or abuse involving clergy or church personnel can contact local law enforcement or New Jersey’s 24-hour Clergy Abuse Hotline at (855) 363-6548.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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