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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

No Charges Filed Against Former Galloway School Principal John Gibson

After a year of waiting for the outcome of allegations asserted against former Galloway Middle School Principal John Gibson, no charges will be filed, according to the Ocean County Prosecutors Office. 

On March 1, 2014, Galloway Township News was the first news agency to report the absence of Galloway Township Public School Principal John Gibson that caused great concern within the parental community of Galloway Township. 

According to payroll records, Gibson was placed on paid leave from the school district until he submitted his letter of resignation on March 24, 2014.


In May 2014, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office confirmed Gibson was under investigation via a response to an Open Public Records (OPRA) request by stating "this office cannot release the contents of this file without a protective court order after an in camera review and a finding of "good cause" by the Court. See N.J.S.A. 2A: 82-46(c), which after further research of the NJ Law Library pertaining to that particular statute it explains an exemption regarding disclosure of documents pertaining to "child victims of crime of abuse".

John Paff, Chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project has taken interest in the case and filed his own OPRA Requests with the Ocean County Prosecutors Office. 

Paff has since filed a lawsuit against the Ocean County Prosecutors Office in which his website has the recorded lawsuit. "The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office (OCPO) has acknowledged that it had prepared a June 6, 2014 investigation report into allegations made against John Gibson.  The OCPO also acknowledged that Gibson was interviewed at the Little Egg Harbor Police Department on January 27, 2014, only a few days before Gibson took his leave of absence.  According to the prosecutor's December 8, 2014 letter that denied access to both the investigation report and the video of the interview, the interview regarded "Mr. Gibson's involvement with a minor."

Since then, Gibson has retired and is receiving monthly net pension checks of an undisclosed amount since May 1, 2014.  Before deductions, however, the gross monthly pension amount is $7,834.50.

On February 23, 2015, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office sent a letter to Galloway Township Police Chief Patrick Moran stating, "this letter is in response to your inquiry concerning the status of an investigation concerning John J. Gibson. After a thorough investigation by Detectives from both Ocean County and Atlantic County and a legal review of that investigation, the Ocean County Prosecutors Offices has closed its file without criminal charges being filed against Mr. Gibson."  

Galloway Township News obtained the letter through an Open Public Records Request.

Captain Chris Doyle from the Galloway Township Police Department stated, "the ultimate charging agency is the Prosecutors office as they make the final determination as to whether charges will be filed regarding any alleged crime that has been reported."

On March 12, 2015, the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office has issued a "no comment" in regards to this investigation. 

The Ocean County Prosecutors Office has not returned our email request regarding this investigation or responded to OPRA requests we have filed with their agency.


4 comments:

Maria_NJ said...

WHAT almost $2000 a week!!! no wonder Galloway Twp is broke and going after the working taxpayers...I am out of New Jersey the first chance we get, this is ludicrous...anyway what did the jerk do?? Oh keeping it under wraps, heh...

Anonymous said...

Once a predator, always a predator. The next victim has only the OCPO to blame.

Anonymous said...

Obviously he did nothing wrong, that is why no charges were pressed against him, it's sad after seeing all the years of hard work and selflessness John gave to the district that one person could destroy his reputation like this. The OCPD did a great job investigating this case and found the accusations as NOT TRUE! He deserved so much more then what he got, he has helped countless families throughout his career, always making sure each family in his school had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas. As far as his pay, he deserves every penny of it! John Gibson never missed work, he went in early everyday to greet all the children in the morning. His dedication to their education and wellbeing reflected the happiness felt as soon as you walked in the school. He succeeded in creating a family environment, making all of the children feel at home. I wish everyone who read the article got a chance to know John Gibson, because if you did, you would know that he would NEVER be capable of hurting anyone! The person who made the accusation should do the right thing, and tell the truth, no one deserves what happened to him

Anonymous said...

Oh come on "Truth". The government loves government and they always take care of their own!

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