SUMMIT (NJ)
Star-Ledger
Friday, October 10, 2003
BY JEFF DIAMANT AND GABRIEL H. GLUCK
Star-Ledger Staff
The Rev. John Johnston was a strange personality at Oratory Preparatory School in Summit — a fine instructor, but also a grump who always left as soon as possible after the final bell, former students said yesterday.
Still, reports that he is facing criminal charges of possession of stolen property, harassment and possession of a weapon, and that police found pornography, Nazi paraphernalia and about $88,000 in cash in his Queens apartment Tuesday night have shocked alumni and faculty of the close-knit boys school in Union County.
Johnston, 64, who taught religion and English at Oratory for 23 years before leaving in June, was being held last night at the Brooklyn Detention Center pending his scheduled arraignment today, said Patrick Clark, spokesman for Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
“The charges are serious and disturbing and will be vigorously prosecuted,” Brown said.
Yesterday, John Horan, Oratory’s associate headmaster, was preparing a letter to students’ parents saying that Johnston, who began teaching at the school in 1980, “never exhibited any problematic behavior toward our students,” and that guidance counselors will talk to students who need help handling the news.
