Father Hughes, ex-ND principal, pleads guilty

Father Joseph Hughes, former principal of my alma mater Notre Dame (high school), was sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling just over $2 million from the Rumson, NJ parish. This case had two of the typical goodies that seem to involve Catholic priests recently...theft of funds and a gay relationship (or at least strong hints of one). Fortunately, at least no children were involved in this tale.

Well, we always knew Father Hughes had deep pockets when he was at ND. He drove an expensive car (I forget if it was a Mercedes or BMW) and there was a lot of rumors about the academic credentials (or lack thereof) of the better athletes at the school. So, I guess the next logical question is...how long has the embezzling been going on? Was ND also plundered?

One more thing about this story that pisses me off doesn't deal with Father Hughes at all, but our wonderful local coverage of it...more specifically, the websites of the two Trenton newspapers. Today's article came from the Star Ledger, but there's no mention of it in either the Trentonian's or the Trenton Times' websites. What? No one remembered his roots before Rumson and Holy Cross? I tried to find their contact information to give them a heads up on the story, and what happens? The Trentonian's contact information is nowhere to be found on the website. I guess they weren't planning on anyone tipping them off on a story. Fortunately, at least the Times had an email you can send tips to.