Mercer Corrections Officer charged with "offensive touching" of coworker.


Update:  The Hopewell Township Municipal Court disclosed on December 23, 2014 that McArthur was found not guilty of the charge.  Click here.
A couple of weeks ago, I received an Internal Affairs (IA) Log (on-line here) of incidents involving Mercer County Corrections Officers.  I have been successful in getting IA logs since I won a lawsuit in Bergen County (more information on-line here) seeking similar records.

Near the bottom of the second page of the roster, an entry shows that "criminal charges" were filed against an officer arising out of a "harassment/unbecoming an officer" allegation.  I put in an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for the criminal complaint.  The response, received today, is on-line here.

Turns out that a female employee was in the law library at the Mercer County Corrections Facility on Route 29 in Hopewell Township about lunchtime on April 2, 2012.  While she was stooping down to look into the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet, Officer Ronald McArthur allegedly walked up to her and said "While you are down there . . ." and then started kissing her on the neck.

The female employee said that she pushed him off and said "What is wrong with you?"  McArthur allegedly then walked off while saying "Awwww girl."

The female employee reported the matter to a supervisor who in turn forwarded it to the IA unit.  Two days later, Complaint No. S-2012-000051 was filed against McArthur in the Hopewell Municipal Court for violating N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4B (harassment), which is a petty disorderly persons offense.

Interestingly, the female employee filed the harassment charge as a citizen complainant.  I would think that jail supervisors would have filed the complaint on her behalf.

I have submitted a request for the disposition of the charge from the Court and will update this blog entry upon receipt.