Prosecutor Provides Update on Timber Creek Football Investigation

Gloucester Township, NJ -- No criminal charges will be filed in connection with the Timber Creek Regional High School football case, but questions over the eligibility of certain players remain, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo announced Friday afternoon.

“The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office received a 13-page anonymous letter from a group called Stop Taking Our Players (S.T.O.P.),” the prosecutor’s office confirmed on Friday. “The letter was also sent to the Gloucester Township Chief of Police, the Mayor of Gloucester Township, several representatives of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (N.J.S.I.A.A.) and members of the press.”

S.T.O.P. describes itself as a group of anonymous parents, educators, coaches, game officials, administrators and attorneys with the main focus of monitoring the illegal recruitment and exploitation of high school student-athletes, Colalillo continued.

The group alleges the football program’s coaches illegally recruited athletes, and that local addresses for students from outside the district were misrepresented so that those students could play for the school’s football teams that won championships in 2011, 2012 and 2015.

“The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office has conducted an extensive investigation into the allegations made by S.T.O.P. in their letter,” Colalillo said. “After following multiple leads presented by S.T.O.P. and those developed independently by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, no evidence was produced to prove any allegation of criminal conduct against any member of the Timber Creek Football Program coaching staff. However, during the course of the investigation, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office uncovered residency discrepancies in transfer documents submitted to the school district.”

Colalillo said that as a result, there will be no criminal charges, but all evidence associated with the residency rule violations will be forwarded to the NJSIAA.

The forfeiture of games and championships won by the program remains a possibility, Colalillo said.

The announcement came one day after it was reported that Eric Smith, a star defensive end for Williamstown last year, was in the process of transferring high schools.

The district has confirmed that some students have been denied enrollment at the high school due to questions concerning their residency.

Timber Creek was set to open the season Friday night at Delsea, 7 p.m.