BOONVILLE, Mo., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A former Catholic priest convicted of molesting a teenage boy in New Jersey 30 years ago wants a non-jury trial on similar charges in Missouri, his lawyer says.
Gerald "Gerry" Howard was known as Carmine Sita when he pleaded guilty in 1982 to sexually abusing a 17-year-old youth while a priest in Jersey City, The Jersey Journal reported Monday.
In January the next year, he was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to undergo treatment.
In 2010, he was arrested in Bloomfield, N.J., on charges he sexually molested three minors while a priest at a parish in Boonville, Mo., between 1984 and 1987.
He was extradited to Missouri where he has been jailed since.
Howard legally changed his name while living in Missouri.
His attorney said last week the priest wants a judge to decide his fate on eight felony counts, including sodomy and kidnapping, connectmidmissouri.com reported.
The case is set for trial sometime after the first of the year.
A Virginia man who accused Howard of abusing him while a priest in Boonville received an $800,000 settlement from church officials in both New Jersey and Missouri in 2009.
