State Employee Engaged in Illegal Sexual Relationship With Young Mother: AG

A suspended state assistant family services worker from Mercer County has been charged with official misconduct for allegedly using his position to have sex with a young mother he had jurisdiction over, Acting Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said.

Lamont King, 39, of Trenton, was responsible for transporting the mother and supervising visits with her son, Porrino said.

King was served with a complaint-summons charging him with second-degree official misconduct on Wednesday.

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

King is currently suspended from his job as an assistant family services worker in the Department of Children and Families, Division of Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P) without pay.

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

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. 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.

Police 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 case worker.

During one of the visits, King told the victim that he wanted to have a relationship with her and made sexually explicit comments to her, police said. Following the visit, police say King took her to a secluded wooded area, where he kissed her and grabbed and rubbed her buttocks.

The victim 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, police allege King took the woman to a motel in Pennsylvania, where they had sex.
The victim 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.

The victim 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.

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