Manalapan BOE Member Gave Oral Sex To Sleeping Teen, Cops Say

MANALAPAN, NJ — Last week, we reported that a member of the Manalapan Board of Education, who is also a longtime and well-known resident of the area, was arrested and charged with sexual assault against a teenage boy.

The accused, Joseph L. Tringali, 47, is charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old teenage boy over the Labor Day weekend. According to the criminal complaint, which was released Friday to the media, Tringali is accused of performing oral sex on the teenage boy while the teen was sleeping.

The victim gave police a typed witness statement and two additional witnesses put Tringali in the same room as the victim when the alleged assault occurred. Police said they also have text messages the teen boy sent to others immediately after the alleged assault, telling them it happened.

The alleged assault occurred on Sunday, Sept. 1, according to Manalapan police, and Tringali was arrested four days later, on Thursday, Sept. 5.

He is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault. The county prosecutor said Manalapan Twp. police did an "intensive" investigation before arresting him last Thursday.

Tringali is a family friend of the teenage boys' parents.

Tringali, of Stratford Drive in Manalapan, is also vice president and chaplain at the local Manalapan-Englishtown Volunteer First Aid Squad.

He has served as vice president of the school board since 2017, and lived in Manalapan with his family for the past fifteen years, according to his profile on the school board website.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Initial Patch report: Manalapan BOE Member Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Teen, 19