http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS02/711080434/1070/NEWS02

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" The state Attorney General has decided not to prosecute a police detective who is accused, in a civil lawsuit, of raping a drug informant in 2005 and impregnating her with a son who was born eight months later, township officials confirmed Wednesday. The lawsuit filed last year by the informant, identified only as Jane Doe, still is pending in federal court. However, Mayor Mark A. Seda said Wednesday that the attorney general's decision exonerates Officer Anthony Senatore. "Apparently they found no wrongdoing on the officer's part," Seda said, adding that Senatore remains on the Jackson force but is no longer a detective. Peter Aseltine, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, declined to comment on the case Wednesday. Robert F. Varady, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Jane Doe, could not be reached for comment. According to the lawsuit, Senatore enlisted Jane Doe in April 2005 as a drug informant, in exchange for money and "prosecutorial considerations" for her children and estranged husband, all of whom have been investigated by the Jackson police. But soon after Jane Doe became an informant, the detective's behavior changed, according to the suit. "By means of intimidation, threat, harassment, coercion and/or promises of judicial and prosecutorial consideration for plaintiff and her family, Senatore repeatedly propositioned and solicited plaintiff for sexual relations" from late April through July 2005, the suit alleges. During that time, he had sex with her in her home, in police vehicles and in wooded locations in and around Jackson, according to the suit. When Jane Doe tried to break off the relationship, Senatore's "deviant, predatory behavior intensified, culminating in a savagely brutal rape" in her home on July 25, 2005, according to the suit. As a result of that rape, the plaintiff became pregnant and gave birth to a son March 26, 2006, according to the suit. The suit accuses the township, the police department and then-Public Safety Director Samuel DiPasquale of permitting and encouraging police officers, including Senatore, to sexually harass and have sex with female informants, female defendants and other women they encountered while on duty. Matthew D. Kunz, the public safety director who oversees the police department, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Shortly after the suit was filed, Senatore was removed from the detective bureau and placed on administrative duty where his only responsibilities included paperwork, the mayor said. "When an officer's character is in question, it puts us at risk," Seda said. "We didn't want to give any criminal a loophole to get out of charges." Senatore is now "back in circulation" as a patrolman, though, because the police department is short staffed, Seda said. He did not know whether the officer will be reinstated to the detective bureau. With the Attorney General's investigation complete, the town and the police department are looking into how Senatore was able to take advantage of his job and engage in a relationship with an informant, Seda said. "That's certainly something we wouldn't want to see happen again," the mayor said. "We're looking at our policy internally to see what we can do to prevent that." "

11/27/2007 10:32:33 AM

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"savagely brutal "

11/27/2007 10:56:05 AM

what a great law enforcement/legal system we have....I guess you gotta be a criminal to catch em, huh.

11/27/2007 11:07:22 AM

Sounds like business as usual

11/27/2007 12:05:06 PM

I'm sure there are plenty of good cops out there, but more and more I read stories about some of the worst people ever to wear the badge, and it makes me not want to trust the police.

11/27/2007 1:02:43 PM

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"the attorney general's decision exonerates Officer Anthony Senatore."

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"looking into how Senatore was able to take advantage of his job and engage in a relationship with an informant"

In the Mayor's view, apparently, Senatore is not guilty of rape but is guilty of having an inappropriate relationship with Doe.

Even without the rape accusations, how does Senatore still have a job? Shouldn't inappropriate relationships with drug informants be grounds for dismissal?

11/27/2007 1:15:18 PM

oh well

11/27/2007 1:21:48 PM

There's a thin line between cops and crooks. Very easy to slip over it.

11/27/2007 1:22:01 PM

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"When Jane Doe tried to break off the relationship, Senatore's "deviant, predatory behavior intensified, culminating in a savagely brutal rape" in her home on July 25, 2005, according to the suit."

if this is true, then there's no reason Senatore should be treated any differently than any other man who rapes a woman, regardless of their past relationship.

11/27/2007 1:26:13 PM

Not surprised. Anyone else thinking about becoming a cop? I mean, it sounds like it's pretty impossible to lose your job no matter what you do.

11/27/2007 4:37:23 PM

I was shocked until I realized that this happened in New Jersey.

11/27/2007 4:40:37 PM

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"Shouldn't inappropriate relationships with drug informants be grounds for dismissal?"

They should be, but according to the lawsuit, such behaviour was encouraged by the police department:

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"The suit accuses the township, the police department and then-Public Safety Director Samuel DiPasquale of permitting and encouraging police officers, including Senatore, to sexually harass and have sex with female informants, female defendants and other women they encountered while on duty."

If that is true, that is truly sick. What to talk of the rape?!

And how was he exonerated of the rape? I guess it was her word against his word, huh? But if the rape was as brutal as they say it was, a doctor can easily confirm she was raped.

What the hell is going on?

11/27/2007 5:12:24 PM

What if there was a bomb about to go off, and the only way to find out where it was, was to become close to and have sex with an informant? Would an officer be justified in that situation?

11/27/2007 5:23:06 PM

This is the best part:

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""Apparently they found no wrongdoing on the officer's part," Seda said, adding that Senatore remains on the Jackson force but is no longer a detective."

Followed closely by:

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"With the Attorney General's investigation complete, the town and the police department are looking into how Senatore was able to take advantage of his job and engage in a relationship with an informant, Seda said. "That's certainly something we wouldn't want to see happen again," the mayor said. "We're looking at our policy internally to see what we can do to prevent that.""

He didn't do anything wrong but we're looking into making sure he doesn't do anything wrong again.

*suicide*

11/28/2007 9:15:34 AM

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"And how was he exonerated of the rape? I guess it was her word against his word, huh? But if the rape was as brutal as they say it was, a doctor can easily confirm she was raped."

I would assume a lack of evidence. Just because she claims that she was raped does not make it so (see Duke rape case).

The CIVIL (not criminal) suit was filed a year after the alleged rape, well after any physical evidence from a rape kit could be collected. At this point it becomes one person's word against another. What was proved, is that the officer was guilty into having an inappropriate sexual relationship while on the job, and he was demoted.

With the information from the article, I don't see any great injustice here.

11/28/2007 9:41:19 AM

Shit I want to be a cop.

I can "bust" teenagers for smoking dope then keep it for myself.
Get chicks to flash me to get out of speeding tickets
and forcefully have sex w/ women and they cannot doing anything about it

11/28/2007 9:57:57 AM