TRENTON
– A former Egg Harbor Township police
officer was sentenced today for having sex
with a prostitute while on duty.
Patrolman Richard Cavanaugh,
45, of Egg Harbor Township, was sentenced
to two years of probation by Superior Court
Judge Albert J. Garofolo in Atlantic County.
Cavanaugh pleaded guilty on March 27 to third-degree
official misconduct.
Cavanaugh forfeited his job
at the time of the plea and must forfeit the
pension he accrued in 23 years in law enforcement.
He will be permanently barred from holding
public employment in New Jersey.
In pleading guilty, Cavanaugh
admitted that in December 2007, while on duty
as a township police officer, he had a prostitute
perform a sex act on him in a hotel on the
Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township. He
was in uniform and drove to the hotel in a
marked police car.
Cavanaugh was suspended without
pay from his job as a patrolman in October
2008 because of the pending investigation.
Deputy Attorneys General Robert
Czepiel Jr. and Peter W. Lee handled the case,
and Deputy Attorney General Czepiel represented
the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau at the sentencing. The case was investigated
by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption
Bureau, Southern Region.
Attorney General Milgram thanked
Egg Harbor Township Police Chief Blaze Catinia
for the cooperation of his department during
the investigation
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