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N.J. priest allegedly pointed gun at child over sports rivalry

By Shawn Price
A New Jersey priest was arrested Friday for allegedly pointing a Civil War-style musket at an eight-year-old parishioner before a mass in Sept. The boy was not hurt, Bergen County prosecutors said.
A New Jersey priest was arrested Friday for allegedly pointing a Civil War-style musket at an eight-year-old parishioner before a mass in Sept. The boy was not hurt, Bergen County prosecutors said.

LITTLE FERRY, N.J., Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A New Jersey priest was arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at a child parishioner, prosecutors said.

The priest, Kevin Carter, 54, of St. Margaret's of Cortona Church, was arrested on Friday and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said.

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Prosecutors said Carter asked the 8-year-old boy to follow him to a rectory room before mass Sept. 13. Carter allegedly asked the boy to stand against the wall, then the priest grabbed a Civil War-style musket and pointed it at him. Several people witnessed the incident from just outside the room, authorities said.

Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told NBC 4 New York, "As he raised his weapon and pointed it at the boy, [Carter] said, 'I'm going to shoot you."

The boy was not injured, authorities said. Police seized the weapon, ammunition and gun powder.

Prosecutors said the incident might have been started because the priest was a New York Giants fan and was upset because the boy was a Dallas Cowboys fan.

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Carter was being held on $15,000 bail, and had been ordered to surrender all weapons and avoid contact with the boy.

Carter was ordained in 1986 in Newark and served at five other churches before St. Margaret's in February 2013, the prosecutor's office said.

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