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Police & Fire
Friends Seek Justice For Morris County Man, 20, Found Hanged In Park Friends Seek Justice For Morris County Man, 20, Found Hanged In Park
Friends Seek Justice For Morris County Man, 20, Found Hanged In Park Friends of a Morris County man whose body was found hanged in a park last weekend are seeking justice. Morris County authorities said Friday they'd found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing to this point in the hanging park death of a 20-year-old Amani Kildea, of Long Valley. His death had been ruled a suicide. A Change.org petition called "Justice for Amani Kildea" launched by Taylor Packwood, however, had garnered more than 31,000 signatures as of Friday afternoon. "His death, without investigation, was ruled a suicide," the petition says.  "Amani was found an hour away from where h…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
$980,000 Settlement Reached In Case Of Morris Student, 14, Kissed, Groped By Teacher $980,000 Settlement Reached In Case Of Morris Student, 14, Kissed, Groped By Teacher
$980,000 Settlement Reached In Case Of Morris Student, 14, Kissed, Groped By Teacher A local school board in Morris County reportedly is paying $980,000 to settle a civil suit brought by the family of a former middle school student whose teacher admitted groping and making out with her.  Eric Strand, 61, who was also a Boy Scout leader and firefighter, pleaded guilty in May 2017 to child endangerment and criminal sexual contact for kissing the 14-year-old Hopatcong Middle School eighth grader several times and grabbing her butt over her clothing the year before. He was sentenced to three years in state prison In exchange for his plea, then was released after serving 36…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Essex County Corrections Officers Lied About Making Jail Rounds, Charged Prosecutor: Essex County Corrections Officers Lied About Making Jail Rounds, Charged
Prosecutor: Essex County Corrections Officers Lied About Making Jail Rounds, Charged A pair of Essex County Correctional Facility officers were charged with falsifying and tampering with records while working at the Newark jail, authorities said. Raymond Distasi, of Roxbury, and Quasi Cary, of Newark, both made false entries in the jail logbook indicating that they made made rounds in the jail that surveillance footage indicated that they did not make, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, said. Distasi, 52, was working a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift at the Doremus Avenue facility March 17 and 18, when he logged certain rounds that he did not actually mak…

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by Cecilia Levine