Manitou Park, NJ, Fire Department Sued by Alleged Sexual Assault Victim
By Jeff Goldman
Source Jeff Goldman nj.com (TNS)
A New Jersey man has sued a township in Ocean County, alleging a firefighter sexually assaulted him over a two-year span when he was a minor.
The plaintiff says he was part of a junior firefighters program at the Manitou Park Volunteer Fire Company in Berkeley from 2019 to 2021 when firefighter Jacob R. Holmes sexually assaulted him.
The suit alleges the assaults occurred at the Manitou Park firehouse and other fire stations in the township while he was under the supervision of Holmes.
Holmes was charged in 2022 with sexual assault, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child, court records show.
He was later convicted of sexually assaulting someone between the ages of 13 and 15, with the assault taking place in July 2020, according to court records. Information about his sentence wasn’t immediately available.
Holmes was born in 1998. The assault he was convicted of took place in July 2020, according to court records.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit, who is referred to as “John Doe” in the court records, named Berkeley Township and the fire company as defendants.
Township officials declined to comment on the suit, except to day Holmes resigned from the fire department in July 2022.
The fire company didn’t immediately return a phone call from NJ Advance Media.
The suit alleges Holmes’ superiors gave him access to children knowing he would likely use his position to groom and abuse them.
The plaintiff suffered emotional and psychological distress as a result of the assaults, according to the lawsuit.
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