Former D.A.R.E. officer faces trial in sex assault case
DOYLESTOWN >> A former North Wales and Warminster police officer accused of sexually abusing children while working as a D.A.R.E. officer will be headed to court next month.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s office announced Monday that James Carey, 52, has been ordered to court after a lengthy preliminary hearing on a long list of charges.
“Now that we’ve successfully gotten the charges against Carey held for trial, his victims are one step closer to getting the justice they deserve,” District Attorney Matt Weintraub said. “And they will get justice.”
Carey was charged on April 7 with 122 total counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, and official oppression.
According to the Bucks DA’s office, Carey worked as an officer for the North Wales Police Department from June to August 1988, and for the Warwick Township Police Department from July 1988 to May 1989, before joining the Warminster Township police department from 1989 to 2009.
The DA’s office alleges that Carey used his position as a D.A.R.E. officer at the Centennial School District to gain access to teenagers. In addition, Carey worked with the Warminster Police Teen Activity Corps where he supervised teens at the township’s Rec Center and
took teenage boys on overnight camping trips, ran the Fire Explorers program for the Warminster Township Fire Department and volunteered with the local Boy Scouts.
After charges were filed in early April, a Bucks County judge ruled later that month that Carey’s bail should be increased to $250,000 cash. On Monday, a four-hour preliminary hearing was held before Magisterial District Judge Daniel J. Finello Jr. Testimony was heard from seven witnesses, including four of the victims and two Bucks County detectives, and the judge ruled a prima facie case was established.
Bucks County detectives initially investigated Carey in 2001 after Warminster
Township police received a report that he had inappropriate contact with a boy, who was 17 at the time. Due to the age of consent being 16 and due to not having full information about what had happened, no charges were filed in 2001.
However, the District Attorney in 2001, Diane Gibbons, wrote a letter to the Warminster Township Police Department advising that Carey’s behavior and conduct was very concerning. Gibbons, now a Bucks County Common Pleas Judge, advised that while criminal charges could not be filed, her office had grave concerns about the safety of the community with Carey being employed as a police officer with Warminster Township.
Carey remained with the
police department until 2005 when he was fired at the rank of a sergeant, for reasons unrelated to his inappropriate contact with minors. Through arbitration, he got his job back in December 2006, at a demoted rank of corporal. While he was fired, Carey worked at the Driftwood Campground in Cape May County, New Jersey, where he also lived.
In September of 2006, Carey was the focus of a New Jersey State Police investigation for inappropriate conduct with minors at that campground. No charges were filed. Because the arbitration decision was binding, Warminster Township police had no choice but to hire Carey back. He was removed from patrol duties and did not do any other sort of police
work, ultimately reaching a retirement settlement with Warminster Police in May of 2009.
The settlement included a nondisclosure order. The investigation was renewed last spring when one of the victims reported his sexual abuse to Warminster police, who referred the case to Bucks County Detectives.
That victim, now 36, coming forward sparked a nearly yearlong investigation by county detectives where they tracked down and interviewed victims, their parents and dozens of others who knew or had suspicions of Carey’s inappropriate conduct from his time as a police officer.
According to the Bucks DA’s office, in presenting the case Monday, First Assistant
District Attorney Jennifer Schorn and Assistant District Attorney Brittney Kern showed how Carey used his position as a uniformed officer assigned to the D.A.R.E. program to take advantage of victims who were already facing challenges in their lives. The victims, now in their 30s and 40s, testified about repeated abuse by Carey. Most of the assaults happened while Carey was in uniform, the victims testified.
One of the victims testified he was court-ordered to perform community service, and Carey took on the role of supervising his community service hours, which led to Carey sexually assaulting him several times. Carey would then sign off on his community service paperwork, he testified.