Mahwah Assistant Fire Chief Charged With Sexually Abusing Child

MAHWAH, NJ — A township assistant fire chief has been charged with aggravated sexual abuse after he allegedly touched a 10-year-old, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Brian Potter, 39, a Department of Public Works employee and the second assistant fire chief, was arrested and charged after a joint investigation by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the Mahwah Police Department, Grewal said in a news release.

The police department and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office received information Tuesday that Potter allegedly "inappropriately touched" a 10-year-old in March.

Potter was arrested July 7 in Paramus, the prosecutor said. In addition to first-degree aggravated sexual assault, Potter was charged with second-degree sexual assault by sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, Grewal said.

Potter was lodged in the Bergen County Jail pending arraignment, the prosecutor said. He was scheduled to appear in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court Friday afternoon.

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Photo: Brian Potter, 39 — Bergen County Prosecutor's Office