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.
According to prosecutors, Carter allegedly asked the eight-year-old boy to follow him to a rectory room before mass on Sunday, Sept. 13. Carter asked the boy to stand against the wall. 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 hurt, 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.
Carter is being held on $15,000 bail and has 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.
