Daily Record
Passaic County's Assignment Judge Robert J. Passero, sitting in Paterson, relaxed the statute that normally requires people who want to sue a public entity to file a notice of intent to sue no later than 90 days after injury occurs.
Judge Allows Spanking Lawsuits
Molestation Charges Against Ex-Counselor In Morristown To Be Heard
06/6/06
A Superior Court judge in Passaic County cleared the way Monday for three men to file lawsuits over their alleged molestation at the hands of a convicted sex offender who posed as a medical doctor while volunteering at a Morristown-run drug and alcohol counseling center. Passaic County's Assignment Judge Robert J. Passero, sitting in Paterson, relaxed the statute that normally requires people who want to sue a public entity to file a notice of intent to sue no later than 90 days after injury occurs. In the cases of the three men -- all allegedly given "hernia exams" and spanked on their bare bottoms by Terence Michael Lynch at the town-run Beginnings programs between 2003 and 2005 -- none of them learned about the criminal past of "Dr. Mike"until media reports of his arrest came out in February. There is a fourth man, a former Morris County resident who has relocated to Virginia, who plans to sue Lynch, Morristown, the state of New Jersey, and other entities, but he was not included in Monday's ruling. "We cleared today a major hurdle," said Jonathan E. Levitt, a lawyer who represents three of the four men. The late notices of intent to sue were filed on behalf of the men in March, so they now must wait six months, or until September, until they can file actual lawsuits, said lawyer Mark Blount, who represents one of the men. The cases were transferred to Passaic County by Morris County's Superior Court Assignment Judge B. Theodore Bozonelis, who recused himself because he supervises the county's probation department, a potential defendant in the proposed litigation.
Arrested in December
A 72-year-old resident of Miller Road in Morristown, Lynch was arrested in December by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and charged with criminal sexual contact against three men who reported as probationers or parolees to the Beginnings program. Just one of these victims is among the four men who plan to sue. Under the criminal charges, Lynch is accused of sexually abusing them while supposedly counseling them at Beginnings. Lynch was in state prison from 1990 until May 1997, for molesting, spanking and giving enemas to 12 boys who attended his now-defunct Chartwell Manor boarding school in Mendham Township. Authorities have said that his parole officer recommended him to launch a general equivalency degree program at Beginnings upon his release, but his volunteer post there somehow evolved into him counseling clients. The criminal sexual contact charges still are pending against Lynch, and he faces up to 41/2 years in prison if convicted of abusing the three probationers. Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello said the town might appeal Passero's ruling permitting late notices of intent to sue to be filed. "Judges liberally interpret statutes, so I'm not surprised. We might appeal, but for now we'll have to live with it," Cresitello said. The Beginnings program -- by order of the state, which found it lacked proper licenses to do substance abuse counseling -- exists now only as a referral entity. Cresitello said town officials plan to meet this week with state officials to see if the program can be broadened, but he believes it will likely prove too costly to re-activate.
Peggy Wright can be reached at (973) 267-1142 or pwright@gannett.com.
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