Former State Employee Indicted On Charges Of Sexual Assault, Misconduct Against Two Young Mothers: AG

A former state assistant family services worker from Mercer County has been indicted on charges of official misconduct and sexual assault for using his position to have sex with two women he had jurisdiction over, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced Monday morning.

Lamont King, 40, of Trenton, was indicted on two counts of second-degree official misconduct; one count of pattern of second-degree official misconduct; two counts of second-degree bribery in official matters; one count of second-degree sexual assault; and one count of third-degree tampering with public records or information.

The indictment stems from an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau South Unit and the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.

In his position, King was responsible for various duties, including the transportation of clients, both adults and children, to and from court-scheduled visits.

The state alleges King used his position to have sexual relations with two clients multiple times over the last two years. He was initially suspended without pay after allegations in one case emerged, and later fired from his position altogether.

In that case, authorities say King took the woman to and from court-scheduled visits with her son, who was in a foster home under CP&P custody, in March and April of this year. The mother was seeking to regain custody.

King was responsible for writing reports about the interaction between the mother and son during visits. This information may be considered by a judge to assess whether and how soon the parent should regain custody of the child.

Authorities allege King told her that if she trusted him, he could make the visits go well and could recommend that the visits occur at a park or restaurant rather than a state office, but told her not to say anything to the caseworker.

During one of the visits, King told the woman that he wanted to have a relationship with her and made sexually explicit comments to her, according to authorities.

Following the visit, King is alleged to have taken her to a secluded wooded area, where he kissed her and grabbed and rubbed her buttocks.

The woman told detectives that she was upset and angry, but did not resist because she feared she would not be believed if she reported King.

She also believed King could have an impact on her ability to regain custody of her son.

After the next visit, authorities allege King took the woman to a motel in Pennsylvania, where they had sex.
The woman told detectives that she again felt like she had to do what King wanted because she feared that if she didn’t, she would not be able to get custody of her son.

She canceled two later visits with her son when King was scheduled to transport her, and she subsequently asked to be transported by a female family services worker.

She reported her allegations to her case worker in early May. The Department of Children and Families referred the case to the Division of Criminal Justice and State Police for investigation.

Since then, more allegations have emerged against King, this time involving a woman he was driving to visit her children in a foster home in late 2015 and early 2016.

During the first visits, authorities allege King complimented her appearance and body inappropriately. As he drove her to a subsequent visit, the woman says King told her that he wrote reports about her visits with her children and had the power to allow the visits to be unsupervised.

She says he then unfastened his pants and placed the woman’s hand on his genitals, telling her he would arrange those visits if she stimulated him sexually.

The woman did so, and said King then allowed her to have an unsupervised visit with her children at a mall.
However, in his report, he claims that he supervised the visit.

Authorities say King repeated his request to be sexually stimulated by the mother after dropping off her children. She told detectives she was upset, but was afraid nobody would believe her if she reported King to the state.

This pattern is said to have continued, with King eventually demanding oral sex from the woman, threatening that failure to do so would have a negative impact on her visits with her children.

She said she performed oral sex on King, resulting in the sexual assault charge in the indictment.

When she told him she didn’t want to give him oral sex anymore, she says he threatened her visits again. As a result, she says she performed oral sex on King several times on subsequent visits.

In March of 2016, she said King went a step further when told her he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her and drove her to a park in his own car after a visit with her children.

She said she refused to have sex with King after he removed her pants and underwear and began to touch her, and he didn’t show up for her next scheduled visit with her children.

The woman then told her caseworker she did not want King to transport her anymore.

The Code of Ethics of the Department of Children and Families, to which all employees must adhere, prohibits department employees from establishing any improper relationship with a person who is being supervised or served as a client of the department.

Investigators urge anyone with information about this case or other suspected official misconduct to contact the Division of Criminal Justice’s toll-free tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ to report it confidentially.

The public also can log on to the Division of Criminal Justice webpage at www.njdcj.org to report suspected criminal conduct confidentially.

The attached image of Lamont King was provided by the Attorney General’s Office.