FREDRICK KUNKLE and TIMOTHY D. MAY, Staff Writers
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
11-14-1996
COVERUP OR JUST NO PROOF OF SEX CRIME? -- ACTIVIST, BLOOMINGDALE MAYOR COLLIDE
By FREDRICK KUNKLE and TIMOTHY D. MAY, Staff Writers
Date: 11-14-1996, Thursday
Section: NEWS
Edition: 2 Star
Hal Turner, a beret-wearing Guardian Angel and former Hudson County
Republican leader, has taken sides on dozens of high-profile
controversies and protested dozens of times for victims' rights.
He helped organize a protest outside a federal judge's home to
pressure him to uphold Megan's Law. He obtained and publicized the name
of "E.B.," an Englewood sex offender who challenged the law.
Now, however, Turner finds himself at the center of a controversy.
And he claims his rights have been violated.
The latest uproar, which has stirred the borough of Bloomingdale,
touches many hot-button issues of the day: child molestation, Megan's
Law, the Internet, and the First Amendment.
Turner, 34, was arraigned Wednesday night in Bloomingdale Municipal
Court on charges of criminal coercion, making threats to influence a
public official, and obstructing the administration of justice.
His alleged crime: publicly accusing Mayor Anne DuHaime and her
husband, Passaic County Freeholder Richard DuHaime, of squelching a
child molestation investigation because the 12-year-old suspect's mother
works for the borough.
By making those accusations -- in a flier that he faxed and posted
on the Internet -- Turner was illegally trying to coerce the mayor to
revive the investigation, said Borough Attorney Philip H. Mizzone Jr.
"In effect, he was blackmailing her to interfere," Mizzone said.
But Turner and his lawyer see it as a battle to end a politically
motivated coverup and alert the community of a potential danger in
accordance with Megan's Law.
"I think he's perfectly in his rights in doing this," said Union
City defense lawyer Dennis McAlevy.
David Banisar, a lawyer and spokesman for the Electronic Privacy
Information Center in Washington, D.C., said the case is emblematic of
how popular communication has changed in just the past few years.
Law enforcement officials and the media sometime overreact to
messages on the Internet that they might ignore on other more
traditional forums, he said. But the same First Amendment rights apply.
"Just as lampposts and other things are used for this kind of
thing, I guess the Internet is probably the next wave for this sort of
thing," he said.
The tangled case so far has prompted investigations by the Passaic
County Prosecutor's Office, the state Division of Youth and Family
Services, and the state Attorney General's Office.
And Turner isn't the only person who has been caught in its web.
One parent was charged with allegedly disseminating confidential police
information about a juvenile. Two other parents have filed a slander
suit.
The Record is withholding the names of the families to protect the
children.
It all began with a 12-year-old autistic boy playing with two
girls, ages 4 and 5, in his neighborhood late last summer. The boy
allegedly touched the girls' genitals with a toy in a sexual manner.
Joseph A. Del Russo, senior assistant Passaic County prosecutor,
said his office took the allegations seriously and conducted a complete
investigation. But there were discrepancies between the young
children's account, and investigators concluded that the boy was
neurologically impaired.
DYFS concurred. Later, responding to complaints from the
4-year-old's parents, the Attorney General's Office also reviewed and
endorsed the county's actions, Del Russo said.
"If we had to charge this boy, we had to prove the charges beyond a
reasonable doubt," Del Russo said. "We'd have had to prove that he
understood the sexual nature of his conduct. Based upon his numerous
mental handicaps, we would have had a difficult time demonstrating that
these ostensibly sexual touchings were undertaken for the boy's sexual
gratification."
Del Russo said the boy was referred to counseling. He also
dismissed any suggestion of a coverup.
"It is an absolute lie, and a complete fabrication," Del Russo
said.
But the outraged father of the 4-year-old girl started alerting
neighbors about the incident. He obtained a police report to back up
his claims and gave out the boy's name, in apparent violation of a
statute that protects the identities of juvenile defendants.
In May, police charged the girl's father with a disorderly person's
offense. Two months later, the parents of the boy slapped the girl's
parents with a defamation suit filed in Superior Court in Paterson.
James LaSala, an attorney representing the boy's parents, said the
defamation suit is the result of a years-long feud.
"There has been a general pattern of harassment," LaSala said.
"It's a neighborhood dispute that has been ongoing for three to four
years."
Last month, the girl's parents turned to the Guardian Angels and
Turner for help. Turner called the mayor to complain, and also sent
e-mail over the Internet accusing the DuHaimes of using their influence
to squelch the investigation. Turner denies threatening the mayor, but
acknowledges he hoped to persuade her to take action.
"Since when can't a citizen call and ask a mayor about a
situation?" Turner said. "I'm not asking anybody to do anything
underhanded or illegal. I'm asking them to take another look at the
situation."
Also backing the girl's parents is Richard D. Pompelio, a Sussex
County lawyer who helped change New Jersey's Constitution to protect
victims' rights.
"I represent crime victims," Pompelio said. "You can draw whichever
conclusion you wish as far as who's the crime victim in this case."
Mayor DuHaime said Turner called her and threatened to go to the
newspapers with his accusations, but said she didn't feel personally
threatened.
"To accuse me of something like this is so ludicrous," DuHaime
said. "I would never ever be involved in something like this. I feel bad
if it came to arresting somebody."
And Del Russo also criticized Turner's freelance actions at a time
when Megan's Law is under attack in the courts.
"I think this kind of citizen conduct can only serve to be a step
backward in our fight to defend the constitutionality of Megan's Law,"
Del Russo said.
Keywords: BLOOMINGDALE. GOVERNMENT. OFFICIAL. THREAT. CRIME. CHILD. SEX. ABUSE.
PROBE
Copyright 1996 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
