Secaucus Mom Who Made Nat'l Headlines Charged With Theft

SECAUCUS, NJ — A Secaucus mom who made headlines last year was charged with stealing a collection jar from Hudson Bread cafe.

Kristie Maldonado, 44, of Secaucus was charged with stealing a March of Dimes collection jar from the counter at Hudson Bread in the Xchange complex. She allegedly stole the jar on May 29, but was formally arrested by Secaucus police Thursday, July 12, charged with theft, issued a summons and released.

There was $200 inside, Carla Campos, manager of Hudson Bread, told NJ.com. Campos told NJ.com Maldonado was a regular daily customer at Hudson Bread and then suddenly stopped coming in after the jar disappeared. The theft was captured on surveillance video and Secaucus detectives were called in to watch it. They said they recognized Maldonado from a June 18 traffic stop, when they said she was stopped for driving an unregistered vehicle and driving with a suspended license.

Maldonado is the mother of Joe Maldonado, a 9-year-old who was in Secaucus Cub Scout Pack 87 for a month before being kicked out in late 2016. His mother said he was asked to leave when pack leaders learned he was born a girl. Her son's story made international headlines last year. The Boy Scouts of America have since said any transgender child would be welcome to join them, but Maldonado said at the time she still would not have her son return to the Secaucus Cub Scout Pack 87 due to how he was treated and what she said was hostility from the pack leader. Her son has since joined a Cub Scout pack in Maplewood.

Maldonado told People magazine that her son Joe began showing signs that he was transgender at 2.

“For a long time I was up every night from midnight to 6, reading so many books and worrying. Then finally there was a turning point that I put my hands up and said, ‘It is what it is,’ ” she told People.

She said she realized that although he was born a girl, Joe really is a boy, and it's not a choice he made — it's just who he is.

Maldonado's arrest was first reported in last week's Secaucus police blotter.