Man sues Diocese of Camden over alleged sexual abuse

CAMDEN, N.J. (WPVI) -- The Diocese of Camden is being sued over alleged sexual abuse by a former priest.

Twenty-nine-year-old Justin Hoffman claims Reverend Brendan Sullivan preyed on him from about 1995 to 2001 when he was an altar boy at St. James Parish in Ventnor.

Hoffman accuses the diocese and former Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, of failing "to warn or otherwise protect children of the Diocese of Camden."

A diocese spokesman tells 6abc "the first accusation of abuse that the diocese received regarding Brendan Sullivan was in 2010.

Even though he was then retired, he was removed from ministry and prohibited from serving as a priest." Sullivan died in 2011.

Dimarzio is now a bishop in Brooklyn. He has not commented.