NJ Advance Media spoke with three attorneys on Tuesday with experience in both Family Court and with Megan's Law, but without personal knowledge of the Sayreville case.
SAYREVILLE - Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced Monday night that he had proven his case against 6 Sayreville football players accused of sexually abusing their victims in a locker room at Sayreville High School.
The prosecutor said three football players admitted to digitally penetrating a 14 year old player through his clothing. Three days earlier in the locker room, one of the defendants held another player while "at least" two others grabbed his penis.
"The facts that were alleged by the Middlesex County prosecutor's office at the beginning of this case have clearly been proven in a court of law," Carey said in a written statement.
If the six juvenile suspects admitted to a sexual crime, why then were they allowed to plead guilty to disorderly persons offenses?
NJ Advance Media spoke with three attorneys on Tuesday with experience in both Family Court and Megan's Law, but without personal knowledge of the Sayreville case.
"Either their attorneys cut very good deals or the evidence against them was very thin," said William D. Ware, a criminal defense attorney in Chester who specializes in Megan's Law.
Ware said if exposed to Megan's Law, the defendants would have been required to register as adult offenders with a possibility of asking a court to remove them from the registry only after 15 years.
"These kids are skating," Ware said, adding that other offenders found guilty of similar or lesser acts have been required to register.
Former Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said to understand the pleas and sentences is to understand the distinction between juvenile court and adult court.
"In Family Court, (the judges and attorneys) do what's in the best interest of the juvenile defendant," Bianchi said. "Adult court is about punishment."
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Bianchi said the prosecutor in a juvenile case would be hard-pressed to convince a judge that sending a juvenile offender to prison or requiring them to register as sex offenders is in the best interest of the juvenile.
"Megan's Law is like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer in this case," Bianchi said. "The law really was meant for repetitive and compulsive criminals. It's a very crushing law and we've expanded it (to include crimes like these)."
Criminal Defense Allan Marain of New Brunswick says the defendants probably should have been required to register as sex offenders.
"When you're talking about digital penetration of the anus, it's clearly a Megan's Law offense," said Marin, who on his website calls the law a "social and legal horror."
Marin said it's likely the prosecutor believes the Sayreville defendants are not at risk of reoffending sexually. But he said that shouldn't matter under Megan's Law.
"Megan's Law is applied literally to hundreds of thousands of people who weren't going to be recidivists. There's a real disconnect here. If you're going to have Megan's Law, it ought to be applied evenly in all cases."
Marin added that in most sex-related crimes there's an element for the perpetrator to either receive sexual gratification or humiliate the victim.
"The element of humiliating the victim does seem to exist here," Marin said. "The law applies here, but the prosecutor simply decided not to exercise that law."
Bianchi pointed to sections of the prosecutor's press release that state the defendants committed sexual abuse of their victims.
"The prosecutor has a tremendous, tremendous amount of discretion," Bianchi said. "The bottom line is if he felt they were at risk to reoffend sexually, the prosecutor would have had them plea to a more serious offense that would have resulted in Megan's Law registration."
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.