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New York Post
7 days ago
- New York Post
NJ parents outraged over new law that could put them in prison for their kid's bad behavior: ‘Snake eating its tail'
The kids aren't alright — and their parents won't be, either! Moms and dads in a New Jersey suburb can be tossed in prison and fined for their badly behaving children — under a bonkers new ordinance that some say strips parents of their rights and potentially sets a 'dangerous precedent.' The new law in Gloucester Township, passed in late July, is called 'Minors and Parent Responsibility' and stipulates that parents will be held 'accountable for public disturbances caused by' their child, and could go to jail for three months if their kids are found guilty of multiple offenses. Advertisement 'Parents are feeling pretty outraged,' Alex Bougher, chair of the Bergen County chapter of parents' rights group Moms for Liberty, told The Post Tuesday. 'They're getting attacked from every angle here.' 3 Rowdy teens brawled and destroyed property at the 2024 Gloucester Township Day and Drone Show. Debbie Rayner The ordinance is the result of a massive brawl that broke out last year among a throng of 500 minors at the Gloucester Township Day and Drone Show, according to Eleven people — including nine teens — were arrested. Three officers were also injured. The juvenile offenses that fall under the new law are sweeping — there are 28 in total — with 'being a disorderly person,' 'immorality,' 'destruction of playground equipment' and 'loitering' joining the likes of assault, mugging, drunkenness and drug dealing. Advertisement 'If a child is repeatedly found guilty in juvenile court, their caretaker could face up to 90 days in prison and/or a fine of up to $2,000,' Gloucester Township Police said in a recent release clarifying the law. 3 The Drone Show brawl was just the last incident of teens causing chaos in New Jersey in recent months. Debbie Rayner Police Chief David Harkins told that the law consisted of 'general legal language' and that parents would receive a warning first for the kids' bad behavior. Advertisement 'Our ordinance was actually sampled from other towns,' Harkins said, referring to the Jersey Shore's Wildwood, which has also seen a spate of crazy teen behavior. 'We're not necessarily the first, but we're probably the first bigger town to adopt it.' Gloucester Township is located just eight miles from Philadelphia and has a population of nearly 66,900. The drastic move has been supported by Mayor David Mayer. 'We have to hold parents responsible,' he told the Courier Post. Advertisement 3 The new law that aims to put parents behind bars if their kids become repeat offenders was passed in response to the 2024 Drone Show brawl. Debbie Rayner Bougher, a mother of three herself, said many parents she's spoken with feel the law is an overstep — and an alarming move toward stripping away parents' right to make choices for their own children. 'It's a very dangerous precedent. Like, this should not be. This should not be,' she said, adding that the new law was also a 'contradiction' of policies already in place in the state. Bougher cited New Jersey public schools' Policy 5756, a recent guidance which advises teachers not to tell parents if their kids begin identifying as a different gender in the classroom — and to create a 'confidential file' of school records to keep hidden from parents. Policy 5756 is intended to protect transgender students who might be endangered by parents who don't agree with their identity choice, but Bougher and others see it as an infringement on parents' freedoms to raise their kids — and a policy that also makes the 'Minors and Parent Responsibility' illogical. 'Parents are basically being told that they don't have rights as parents to know what's going on with their children,' she said, 'but then on the other side, it's 'How could you not know what was going on with your children? How come you didn't step in?'' 'If you're going to block the parents, how can you blame the parents?' she added. Nicole Stouffer, one of the organizers of parents' rights group the New Jersey Project, says the new ordinance on its face doesn't make sense. Advertisement 'A 90-day jail sentence is extreme — for parents who maybe have other kids, maybe they have a problem kid,' she said. 'Now this person can't pay their bills and their mortgage or take care of their children? And they're going to go to jail because they have one child that's out of control?' 'It's kind of like a snake eating its tail — nothing is going to get fixed,' Stouffer added. Stouffer thinks the problem lies in post-pandemic movements to roll back policing — and that cops need to be allowed to intervene and diffuse kids before situations get out of hand. 'We have eliminated powers for the police to maybe do their job,' she said. 'It's just an extreme response to something that's not being taken care of by the state.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
18-year-old girl escapes from New Jersey home where she was allegedly forced to live in dog crate and abused
A New Jersey couple has been charged after an 18-year-old escaped their residence and said she was forced to live in a dog crate for a year, given a bucket to use as a bathroom and severely abused over a seven-year span. Brenda Spencer, 38, and Branndon Mosley, 41, of Gloucester Township, were charged with kidnapping and Mosley with additional counts of sexual assault, The Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Gloucester Township Police announced Wednesday. The 18-year-old female, who officials described as the daughter of Spencer and step-daughter of Mosley, had escaped the home on May 8, assisted by a neighbor, prosecutors and police said in a news release. The abuse was then reported to police on Saturday. The victim said Spencer and Mosley had abused her since 2018. Around that time, she was removed from school when she was in the sixth grade 'at Spencer's discretion and confined to her home,' officials said. The victim said shortly after she was pulled out of school, she was 'forced to live in a dog crate for approximately one year and was let out periodically,' the release said. Later, she was forced to live in a padlocked bathroom and was chained up. She told police she would be let out of the bathroom when family visited the home. At other times she lived in a bare room with a bucket to use as a toilet. The victim told police the room had an alarm system that would 'alert Spencer and Mosley if she tried to leave.' The victim also reported being beaten with a belt and sexually abused by Mosley, officials stated. Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins told reporters Wednesday it was 'one of the most despicable cases we've run across.' He said that police responded on May 8 to Wawa and met with the teen and took a statement from her. She described the situation as a domestic violence case but did not disclose the full scope of the abuse, Harkins said. She was offered domestic violence services, which she declined at the time. Police were called again on Saturday night, when the full story came out. Detectives searched the home and found the victim lived in 'squalid conditions' crammed with numerous Great Dane large dogs, chinchillas and other animals. A 13-year-old child also lived in the home and was removed from school years prior at Spencer's discretion, and both girls were allegedly homeschooled, the release said. Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay did not disclose specific details of how the girl escaped or her captivity. "Anyone who's been confined for a period of seven years, held in these conditions, living in squalid filth, is going to be damaged, psychologically, physically, emotionally, mentally, and as you also can appreciate, when it comes to cases involving child endangerment and child abuse and sexual assault, confidentiality to protect the victims is paramount. So we're limited in all the details," she said. Harkins said police had no indication about child abuse going on at the home, but had some animal complaints in the past. Spencer was unemployed and Mosley worked for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) as a train conductor. He was one of the employees honored by SEPTA in March, described as a train engineer. Spencer and Mosley were both charged Sunday with kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, five counts of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child — abuse/neglect, criminal restraint, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon. Mosley was further charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child — sexual contact. They were arrested at their home on Sunday and remanded to the Camden County Correctional Facility pending detention hearings set for Friday. A public defender listed for the couple declined to comment on the case. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
Gloucester Township Day postponed indefinitely: Mayor weighs in
The Brief The decades-old Gloucester Township Day celebration has been posted indefinitely for 2025. The news comes after hundreds of teens and young adults created chaos during last year's event and posted social media threats ahead of this year's event. Gloucester Township's mayor has addressed the decision to postpone Township Day. GLOUCESTER TWP., N.J. - Officials in Gloucester Township made the disappointing announcement Tuesday afternoon that the town's popular 40-year-old summer carnival planned for June 7th has been postponed indefinitely due to credible online threats. The threats came after the 2024 event where hundreds of rowdy teens took over Veteran's Park and hundreds of officers responded. What we know Officials say the safety and well-being of its residents, families, and visitors remain their top priority. Threats of firearms and chaos were among some of the social media posts threatening a decades-old community tradition in Gloucester Township. As of Tuesday night, that popular event is officially off. "In light of the experience of last year's Gloucester Township Day and our readership and analysis, we cannot provide a venue to allow this type of behavior to repeat itself this year," said Chief David Harkins of the Gloucester Township Police. The Gloucester Township Police Chief announced the disappointing news that the town's popular 40-year-old summer carnival planned for June 7 has been postponed indefinitely due to credible online threats. The threats followed last year's event, where hundreds of rowdy teens took over Veteran's Park, prompting a response from hundreds of officers. More than a dozen teens were charged with disorderly conduct during the melee. "A group of hundreds of unruly and unparented juveniles disrupted that nice gathering, turning it into chaos," said David Mayer, Mayor of Gloucester Township. Officials say they didn't want to postpone the event, but after seeing threats discussing gunfire and causing terror, they felt they had no choice. "What happened after that posting is both alarming, as one post was circulated around the internet 20,000 times by what appears to be juveniles expressing their excitement about showing up and once again causing disruption and chaos," Mayer explained. The event is also a major fundraiser for a township scholarship program for high school students going to college, meaning some kids won't receive that money this year. "Last year we raised approximately $30,000 for Gloucester Township Day, so you can imagine that represents a substantial majority of the money we raise," Mayer noted. What's next New legislation in New Jersey that would enhance fines disorderly conduct and create new penalties for inciting public brawls is awaiting Governor Murphy's signature. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Paul Moriarty (D) of Gloucester. Township officials say if signed into law they may reconsider their decision. The Source The information in this story is from the Gloucester Township police and mayor.
