NEW JERSEY – A new spate of sexual abuse allegations has been levied against a man once considered New Jersey's top priest — just as the state has announced its crackdown on abusive behavior involving members of the clergy is growing.

Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked in February after accusations he sexually abused two boys and sexually harassed seminarians, faced new accusations this past week that he abused at least seven boys from about 1970 until 1990, according to The Washington Post. Many of the boys traveled with the then-archbishop to fundraisers. Six more allegations of sexual abuse by DC seminarians and former seminarians also have been forwarded to Catholic Church officials in Rome, The Washington Post said.

One accuser told the Post he spoke out after a September interview with Slate in which McCarrick, the former Archbishop of Newark and founding Bishop of Metuchen, denied any wrongdoing. McCarrick told an interviewer he is "not as bad as they paint me. I do not believe that I did the things that they accused me of." In February the Vatican stripped McCarrick of his role in the church, prohibiting him any type of priestly ministry, after he was found guilty by church officials of soliciting sex during confession and committing "sins" with minors and adults, with the aggravating factor the abuse of power.

"Our hope and prayer is that this decision serves to help the healing process for survivors of abuse, as well as those who have experienced disappointment or disillusionment because of what former Archbishop McCarrick has done," Vatican officials said in February. "We also pray that the Church may be guided to move forward in her mission." The revelations came soon after Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a retired Roman Catholic priest from New Jersey was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting an underage girl in the late 1990s.

Father Brendan Williams is the second priest to be charged in criminal cases filed by the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force, which was formed by Grewal in September 2018 to investigate allegations of clergy abuse. The arrest was made by members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office assigned to the task force.

A Roman Catholic priest also was recently sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a teenage girl in the early 1990s. He was the first defendant to be charged and convicted by the Clergy Abuse Task Force.

Nearly 200 names on the new clergy list were already named by the Catholic church earlier this year. Here is the list released by the Catholic church in February: Here's List Of NJ Priests Accused Of Child Sexual Abuse (UPDATED) The names of more than 100 additional priests and members of the clergy were also released in a new disclosure in May. Read more: Another 100 NJ Priests, Clergy Accused Of Sex Abuse In Disclosure