By Tim Zatzariny Jr.
For OCNJ Daily
A retired Ocean City police officer accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage female beach-fee collector while he was superintendent of the city’s beach-tag operations is set to stand trial later this month.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday, Feb. 23 in the trial of Charles E. Cusack, 51.
Cusack is charged with one second-degree count of sexual assault. If convicted, he faces five to 10 years in state prison. Judge John C. Porto will hear the trial in state Superior Court in Cape May Court House.
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Cusack was arrested in August 2012 after he allegedly had a two-month sexual relationship with the girl, who was 17 at the time, authorities said. He has been free since posting $150,000 bond shortly after his arrest. Authorities have released no additional details about the victim, or about Cusack’s alleged sexual relationship with her.
In New Jersey, the age of consent is 16. But Cusack was charged under a provision in state statute that makes it illegal for a person to have sex with someone over whom they have supervisory authority when an alleged victim is 16 or 17 years old.
Following Cusack’s arrest, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office said it was seeking information regarding any other alleged victims in the case. None has come forward, authorities said Friday.
Cusack’s attorney, Louis M. Barbone of Atlantic City, did not immediately respond to a message left at his office Friday afternoon.
Cusack served 25 years in the Ocean City Police Department before retiring in May 2011. He worked as a bicycle officer for about a year in the community policing division, and also worked at Ocean City High School as a school resource officer in the two years before he retired. The schools then hired Cusack in fall 2011 to replace a retiring “supervisory aide” in the high school. His contract was not renewed after it expired at the end of the 2012 school year because the position was eliminated, school officials said previously.
Cusack has three children and had been separated from his wife at the time of his arrest.
Cusack was in his second season as director of the city’s beach-tag program when he was arrested.
As a retired city police officer, Cusack collects an annual pension of $66,898. His pension is not likely to be in jeopardy if he’s convicted of sexual assault, because he was already collecting the benefits before criminal charges were filed against him, officials said.
