N.J. judge downplays rape, favors teen suspect
Judge shields teen because he has good family, high test scores
PHILADELPHIA — A state appeals court recently chided a New Jersey judge who last year ruled to keep a teenager — accused of sexually assaulting a girl at a pajama party and filming it — in the juvenile system, at one point citing the boy’s “good family,” high test scores, and status as an Eagle Scout.
In denying Monmouth County prosecutors’ request to move the case to adult court, Family Court Judge James G. Troiano also differentiated the alleged assault from a “traditional case of rape,” which he described as “generally two or more” males using a weapon and “clearly manhandling a person” into an “abandoned” area.
But in reversing that decision last month, the appellate court wrote that Troiano “sounded as if he had conducted a bench trial on the charges” rather than simply reviewing the state’s application to transfer the case.
Now, prosecutors will present the case to a grand jury and want to prosecute the teen — who hasn’t been publicly identified — in New Jersey’s adult system.
The state appellate court’s opinion is the second time within the last three weeks that it reversed a Family Court decision meant to keep a teenager accused of sexual assault in the juvenile system. In both cases — the other involves a Middlesex County decision — the appeals court ruled the lower court judge overstepped in weighing the merits of the case, rather than the validity of the prosecutors’ request to move the case to adult court.
The cases were first reported by New Jersey 101.5 in a story examining a bill that could give lower court judges more discretion in deciding these “juvenile waiver” cases, which opponents say could make it harder for prosecutors to win similar appeals in the future.
In the Middlesex County case, the appeals court in mid-June reversed a decision in which Judge Marcia Silva blocked prosecutors’ request to move a teenager, accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl when he was 16, to adult court. In making her decision, Silva said, “the victim did not suffer any physical or emotional injuries as a result, other than the ramifications of losing her virginity, which the court does not find to be especially serious harm in this case.”
Prosecutors said the girl told police the accused “removed her clothing, grabbed her hands, and while wearing a condom, penetrated her with force.” She told investigators that she said “no” repeatedly and that the assault caused her to bleed.
The defendant, who hasn’t been publicly identified, is currently detained in the Juvenile Detention Center pending a detention hearing in adult court, according to a Middlesex County Prosecutor spokesperson. His defense attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Troiano declined to comment through a spokesperson, and Silva couldn’t be reached for comment.
Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said in a statement that most cases involving juveniles are resolved in school or Family Court. But, “in a very small amount of cases, the right thing to do is to file a motion to waive a juvenile up to adult court.”
Fewer than 10% of the 500 juveniles currently in the New Jersey system were waived for adult court, according to the Juvenile Justice Commission of the state attorney general.
Under New Jersey state law, prosecutors can only seek waivers to send juveniles to the adult system in cases of especially heinous accused crimes, like murder and aggravated sexual assault. (There is no specific statute for rape in the state.) The juvenile must have been at least 15 at the time of the incident, and prosecutors must show probable cause exists that a violent crime was committed. To deny such a request, a judge must determine that a prosecutor “abused his discretion.”
Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said that in the case involving the 16-year-old accused of sexually assaulting a girl at a pajama party, “the guy videotaped it and sent it to all of his friends.” Investigators said the teen also texted his friends in the days following the incident: “(w)hen your first time having sex was rape.”
The girl was described by prosecutors as visibly intoxicated and “was on the floor vomiting” after the incident. The next morning, she found bruises on her body and her clothing was torn, and she told her mother what she feared had happened, prompting a report to police.