Defendant Philip Williams in court, Aug. 23. Photo by Mary Walton
1. Sentencing has been scheduled for four rock-throwing vandals who victimized Ocean Grove and many other Monmouth County communities earlier this year, damaging numerous cars and homes. They are to appear on November 16 before Judge Thomas Scully in Monmouth County Superior Court. The four — James Turetzkin, Lauren Magaw, Tyler Emmons and Philip Williams — agreed to a plea agreement in August, according to which they would avoid a jury trial and possible imprisonment. They agreed to pay $115,096 in restitution to 180 victims and to perform 75 hours each of community service. Thirty-three of the acts of vandalism were in Ocean Grove, according to police. For background on the case, click here.
PLEASE NOTE that the above item has been revised; the date of the sentencing is now November 16.
2. Speaking of law enforcement, the Neptune Township Committee passed a resolution on Monday night supporting a proposed amendment to Megan’s Law, the New Jersey sex offender statute. That law currently requires that the prosecutor’s office rank sex offenders according to their risk of committing further offenses when released from incarceration. The proposed amendment would require that the risk be determined before release from jail rather than afterward, as is now required. Under Megan’s Law, released sex offenders must be registered and their presence must be made known to the communities in which they reside.
Ocean Grovers might be interested to know that, according to the State Police online registry, ten released sex offenders currently reside in The Grove. The registry contains mug shots and basic facts about the crimes committed. To get to the registry, go here. Then click on “Geographic Search” and then enter the zip code 07756 for Ocean Grove. And to read the provisions of Megan’s Law, go here.
Ten sex offenders in OG??? That’s a lot for such a small village.
Thank you for posting the 10!
There are not 10 sex offenders in Ocean Grove. There are only 3. They are : Frank xxxx who goes by 5 different names and whose offense was 12 years ago in 2000 in Ocean County. There is Stephen/Steven xxxx who goes by 3 different names whose offense was 6 years ago in 2006 in Monmouth County. Then there is Mark xxxx whose offense was 19 years ago in 1993 in Burlington County. This comment is by no means to be construed as defending sex offenders. Rather it is meant to clarify misinformation and thus perhaps relieve some folks paranoia/concern . I wish that there was a registry for criminals(particularly violent ones) living in a town/area.
Ooops. Addendum to my previous comment : Mark xxxx goes by 2 different names. Frank : 5 names/1 person + Stephen/Steven : 3 names/1 person + Mark : 2 names/1 person = 10 names/3 offenders.
I live (when not in OG) in West Windsor, NJ, a town of 19,000. We have 0 sex offenders. What about OG attracts sex offenders? Is it known within the sex offender community as a good place to live (as I doubt such a concentration could occur without steering of some sort). How can we make OG less attractive to these criminals? Are they home owners or transients. Can the police politely hassel them and make them feel unwelcome? We should make them feel unwelcome too. I can’t recall of a single incident with a sex offender in the Grove in the last 5 years, but still……
Most of these guys live in Ocean Grove’s rooming houses. In addition to sex offenders, these places often house criminals who get paroled out of prison.
Please no vigilantism here folks, you may end up getting yourself in big trouble… the Sex Offender Registry website specifically says “WARNING! – Any person who uses the information contained herein to threaten, intimidate or harass another, or who otherwise misuses that information may be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability. “
I strongly second what OhGee just said about vigilantism. Don’t even think about it.
However, I have to disagree with Frank S. about the number. I think Frank S. only looked at the first page. There are 5 pages total. Although their many aliases can be confusing, if you sort them all out you’ll still get 10 different guys.
Charles: All apologies. You are correct. I did only look at 1st page. Registry is confusing as it lists the offenders multiple names and multiple addresses as separate individual entries. Two of the 10 have their addresses listed as being not only here in OG but also in Eatontown. So maybe (hopefully) we have only 8 sex offenders living here in OG. Still though that does seem like a lot for a little town.
Let’s pray that the ones who threw those rocks get sentenced to some meaningful jail time. They may look all nice in their white shirts and ties — but these are folks who went on a rampage that lasted months and clearly enjoyed what they were doing. They do not belong out in society.
Tomas… please feel free to spend as much time as you wish in West Windsor. Suggesting that police and residents make the effort to make these individuals “uncomfortable” is disappointing. Ocean Grove prides itself on being tolerant and you, sir, don’t seem to fit that mold. These people have served their time and are trying to adjust to life as a registered offender. I am not defending their previous transgressions but I certainly feel they should be free from harassment as they move forward.
Go Sal!!
Sal — I respect all opionions, including yours. Nonetheless, in my view, convicted sex offenders deserve no respect and continue to be a threat even after serving their sentences. OG should never be “tolerant” of convicted sex offenders. The police should be monitoring them very closely and making them feel their presence. OG residents should shun them. The data shows that sex offenders have one of the highest rates of recidivism of any type of criminal. Defending sex offenders is a weak position to take, I believe.
I again ask why there can be so many of these criminals in such a small area unless they are being directed to live in the Grove. Does the state give sex offenders potential locations to live and we are on that list? Can we get our town taken off that list? Perhaps the root question is why are there SRO boarding houses still operating in OG? The authorities should be aggressively enforcing the codes and regulations such that these establishments are getting inspected all the time and that their cost of operation goes up to where it is not viable to operate as a SRO any longer. This approach has already worked well (a boarding house was forced out of business earlier this year in OG).
Say NO to sex offenders in OG!!!
Thomas, I can only add Amen to your statement.
Good point about the list. Maybe Mary Beth can shed some light as to why we have such a high concentration of these undesirable individuals and what the Neptune Twp. can do to prevent more from coming.
Mary Beth?
I agree. No to sex offenders in OG. I think it is time these SRO’s closed. As someone who has worked with sex offenders in the past, I must agree with Tomas. The recidivism rate is very high.
If Ocean Grove continues to improve, as it has been doing now for a decade, these SROs will soon be priced out of the market. Add substantially higher taxes (this is the one benefit of high taxes) and this problem will take care of itself. Still, it is odd that we have this large number of offenders in a town of 4K residents. Hypotheses would be welcome. Fortunately, I cannot recall any sex offenses being committed here since I bought 6 years ago.
Look at the addresses, The whitfield, the Cordova, the Serenity. The presence of these SROs is due to a number of factors that occurred in the 1980s. These factors are changing, and while many decry these new homes, the large Victorian homes being built is the sign of that change.
That said, using the police or the community to put pressure on these people to leave is patently illegal
I agree that these bad guys probably get a list called “good communities to live in if you are a sex offender” when they are released from prision. How else could so many have come to live in these few SROs that Bullets lists? We need to get OG off the list.
There are halfway houses, parolees and felons for all types of crimes who have “timed out” (served their complete sentence) all over Neptune. While the Police Department is notified about them – currently after they’re released and placed in a community – state law does not require public notification (except for the top two tiers of sex offenders), zoning approval or a certificate of inspection/occupancy to be issued by the municipality. The reasoning behind this state statute is to prevent vigilantism against those with felony convictions and to allow them to learn how to navigate the pressures of life as a felon while most of them are still under the supervision of the state Department of Probation. Even when a community is notified about the entry of a paroled sex offender into their neighborhood, that process is notification only; residents are not able to debate that relocation with Probation officials.
Finding locations to house released sex offenders and felons and halfway houses comes down to some simple factors: the cost of housing – both individual apartment rentals and the cost of a multi-bedroom home for use as a halfway house, accessibility to public transportation, banks, laundromats and grocery stores and, for many released felons for any type of crime, accessibility to 12-step meetings and psychologists/psychiatrists. For sex offenders who have molested a child, proximity to schools, playgrounds, sports fields, and even how many children may live in an apartment building or multi-family home is extremely important in where Probation places them for housing. Child molesters usually have lifetime bans from showing up where children play, learn or congregate that can put them back in prison if violated.
In the immediate four-block area surrounding my home in Bradley Park, there are six halfway houses for parolees and recovering addicts that house anywhere from 15 to 24 individuals. They live quiet lives, just going about their business. The only incident we have had was one resident falling way off the wagon and dying in his car, in front of the house, of a drug overdose.
The Police Department, in conjunction with Probation, keeps a close watch on sex offenders that will be even closer if the law is changed to notify the PD before the sex offender is released to a residence in Neptune, rather than after. How closely is the PD watching sex offenders in Neptune? Close enough that many people didn’t realize there were any in Ocean Grove.