A tip to the state clergy abuse hotline resulted in the arrest Friday of a retired New Jersey priest who was charged with sexually assaulting a girl in the late 1990s, officials said.

The Rev. Brendan Williams, 78, of Lawrence, became the second priest to be charged by the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force, which was formed by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal last year to investigate allegations of clergy abuse, according to a release from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Williams was arrested by members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and was charged with second degree sexual assault-criminal sexual contact on a victim under the age of 13, authorities said.

He was a pastor at St. Veronica Catholic Church in Howell when his alleged crimes happened twice in Colts Neck and once in Ocean County between 1997 and 1999, the attorney general’s office said.

The investigation into Williams, who lives in a retirement community for Catholic clergy in Lawrence Township, began after a call was made to the Clergy Abuse Task Force Hotline, officials said.

“Once again a call to our hotline has led to a thorough investigation by members of our Clergy Abuse Task Force and charges against a priest who allegedly assaulted a young girl many years ago,” Grewal said in a statement. “No person is above the law and we want survivors to know that, despite the passage of time, justice may still be within reach. We will do everything in our power to hold their abusers accountable.”

Disgraced Roman Catholic priest Thomas Ganley was sentenced to four years in prison on Aug. 26 after pleading guilty to raping and sexually assaulting a minor under the age of 16 in the 1990s. He was arrested two days after the unidentified victim reported the abuse to the 24-hotline.

Ganley and Williams’ names were among the 188 that appeared on a list released by New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses that named every priest and deacon “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a child over multiple decades.

Anyone with information about Williams was asked to call Sgt. Michael Magliozzo or Det. Thomas Manzo of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-431-7160.

The attorney general’s office also encouraged anyone who is either a survivor or witness of sexual abuse to call the hotline at 855-363-6548.

More than 540 calls have been received through the hotline to since its creation, officials said.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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