Priest convicted of groping woman

A jury on Wednesday convicted a popular Brick priest of groping a woman, but acquitted him of molesting her two children.

After deliberating about nine hours over two days, the panel of six men and six women announced its verdict about 5 p.m. in the trial of Marukudiyil Velan, better known to parishioners at Church of the Visitation in Brick as "Father Chris."

The jury found Velan, 66, guilty of criminal sexual contact on the woman, among the least serious of the charges he faced, and acquitted him of six other crimes related to alleged molestation of the woman's two children.

Velan's attorney, S. Karl Mohel, said his client is unlikely to face prison because the offense he was convicted of, a fourth-degree crime, carries a presumption of no incarceration for people who do not have any prior criminal convictions. The crime, which carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison, is not a Megan's Law offense, so the priest will not be required to register his whereabouts with police or be on parole for the rest of his life, Mohel said.

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On the videotape, Velan readily admitted touching the mother's breast on the date in question and acknowledged that he had done so in the past in the process of hugging her.

Regarding the children, Velan told the detectives he was resisting their inappropriate moves. He said it was the 5-year-old girl who took his hand and placed it on her inner thigh, near her private parts, but he moved it away. He told detectives the boy was rubbing up against him, but he pushed him away, touching the child's genitals in the process.

Priest convicted of groping woman