LINDEN – A former Presbyterian minister who served for decades at a city church and was accused of using exorcism rituals to sexually abuse several people has declined to dispute the claims made against him in court.

William Weaver, a prominent minister who served as pastor at the Linden Presbyterian Church for 39 years, is being sued by five people in two separate cases playing out in Middlesex and Union counties.

Weaver defaulted on both cases.

"He's not disputing the claims, he's not disputing the case," said Toms River attorney Robert Fuggi, who is representing the plaintiffs in both lawsuits. "We'll be able to go forward and get a judgment against him."

The lawsuit also names the Linden Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Plainfield-based Elizabeth Presbytery, which oversees 41 Presbyterian churches in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties.

Unlike Weaver, the church entities responded to the lawsuits and denied the allegations in court documents.

In the Middlesex County case, four men and one female deacon brought claims against Weaver.

The men claimed that during individual counseling sessions with Weaver, the minister allegedly made them lie down naked on a bed, lit candles around the room, placed gemstones on various parts of their bodies and used a feather and magnetic strips to scan their bodies.

The interactions became sexual, the three men claimed, eventually leading Weaver to allegedly engage in oral sex.

The allegations date back to 1999. All the men said they were at extremely vulnerable periods in their lives when they sought counseling from Weaver.

In the same lawsuit, the female deacon claimed Weaver used a similar object but instead sucked on her navel.

Before filing their lawsuit and coming forward with their claims, the three men said they informed various law enforcement organizations about their allegations against Weaver.

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They also informed the Presbyterian Church.

As a result, Weaver, 69, was scheduled to face his three accusers during an internal church trial. On Jan. 25, 2019, one day before the trial was to begin, he renounced the jurisdiction of the Elizabeth Presbytery. He was accused by the church of “multiple acts of idolatry and sexual misconduct.”

The Presbytery, in its policy, said sexual abuse occurs "whenever a person in a position of trust engages, with or without consent, in a sexual act or sexual contact with another person to whom s/he owes a professional and pastoral responsibility."

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The church charges said Weaver used rose quartz, angel coins, buckeyes and a feather to remove small objects from victims’ nude bodies through bodily tissue, without bleeding or injury, to their penises and “removed them by means of ejaculate induced by manual or oral stimulation.”

The Union County lawsuit was filed by an anonymous man from Hunterdon County with similar claims.

"We're still going forward because the parish and the church were responsible for his conduct," Fuggi said. "The sexual abuse was perpetrated during priestly duties and counseling sessions, so the church is going to be held responsible ultimately on this."

Staff Writer Nick Muscavage is an award-winning watchdog reporter whose work spans many topics and has spurred the creation of a state law. Contact him: 908-243-6615; ngmuscavage@gannettnj.com; @nmuscavage.