South Plainfield Police Chief James Parker (South Plainfield)
Anthony G. Attrino, nj.com
The South Plainfield police chief has been accused of having sex with a dispatcher on the job and allegedly viewed porn with the former police chief on an office computer, according to allegations contained in a lawsuit.
A police captain who says he told the mayor about it and anonymously forwarded documents to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is suing, claiming he was retaliated against for being a whistleblower.
Chief James Parker allegedly began having sex with two employees in the department in 2005 while he was an internal affairs lieutenant working under a former police chief, according to the suit filed in Superior Court of Middlesex County by Capt. Charles Siedenburg.
“Parker would pressure (one of the employees) to leave the dispatch center while she was working and go to his office located in the rear of the Detective Bureau of the SPPD to have sexual relations with him, which would unlawfully leave only one dispatcher in the communications center during her absence,” the complaint, filed Dec. 31, 2021, states.
Siedenburg said he told the now-former mayor in 2008 about Parker’s alleged “sexual misconduct” while on duty, but said nothing was done.
Parker did not respond Monday morning to a request for comment left on his office voicemail. Parker’s attorney, who also represents the police department and the borough, on Monday called the allegations baseless and said the law firm is “vigorously defending them.”
An attorney for Siedenburg did not immediately respond on Monday to requests for comment.
Siedenburg states in his whistleblower complaint that he received an anonymous package on the porch of his home in 2010 containing computer usage documents sent by a police captain to a borough councilman.
“One of the documents (showed) that (the former chief) and Parker had visited numerous pornographic websites while on duty (through) the SPPD’s internet server,” the suit states.
NJ Advance Media is not naming the police chief because he is not a defendant in the lawsuit and no longer works with the department.
The anonymous envelope also contained documents showing that there were more than 1,550 emails between Parker and two women who worked for the department at least one of whom was under his direct supervision, Siedenburg’s lawsuit states.
The suit states that Siedenburg, fearing retribution from Parker, anonymously forwarded the documents to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, which then passed on the package to borough officials.
The borough, however, failed to discipline (the former chief) or Parker and the investigation was “white-washed,” the lawsuit alleges.
Siedenburg claims he made numerous complaints to Internal Affairs about Parker and that he was retaliated against in numerous ways, including the loss of 40 hours of vacation. He also claims Parker refused to answer his calls or text messages, which makes his job as a police captain “difficult and stressful.”
Parker also allegedly assigned Siedenburg to drive an older-model K-9 vehicle “full of dog hair” and reeking of dog feces. “Assigning plaintiff this disgusting police vehicle is intended to humiliate and denigrate plaintiff,” Siedenburg claims in his suit.
In 2019, the dispatcher who had sexual relations with Parker while on duty was terminated from her job with the department in July 2020, the lawsuit states. After her termination, the dispatcher filed a lawsuit on Sept. 3, 2020, against Parker and the borough. The lawsuit was dismissed later that month, according to court records.
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