Camden mayor pleads guilty to misdemeanor charges for shoving a person, steps down

Justin T. King agreed to step down as Camden's mayor on Tuesday as part of a plea deal stemming from a February incident at his business in which he shoved two people using a carwash.

The 41-year-old mayor and former Camden police officer, pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and disorderly conduct. He also pleaded no contest to offensive touching.

He was immediately sentenced to 1 year probation for the three misdemeanors. In addition to probation, King also has to pay a $500 fine, have no contact with the victims and resign as mayor, which he said he did on Monday.

"While we are elated that he was brought to justice as we know so many have not been,"said Central Delaware NAACP Branch President Fleur McKendell. "We also find it to be a travesty of justice that he gets to walk away and go back into the community, continue to make money off the backs of the community and he didn't have to serve a day.

"If it were a Black or brown or poor white person in the same situation, we probably could bet a pay check, if we could afford it, that that would not have been the case for them today."

Camden's vice-mayor, Michael Schock, has become the town's new mayor, according to Town Manager Harold Scott Jr.

Town council and the mayor will appoint someone to finish off Schock's term, Scott added. The council will then vote for a new vice-mayor.

Feb. 26 incident in Camden

On Feb. 26, King said he was arriving home and saw three men in hoodies washing a car and taking pictures at his car wash located at 109 S. Main St. Camden. He added in court that they looked "suspicious."

King ended up pushing two of the men and, according to McKendell, injuring a then-19-year-old man after King choked him with the victim's own hoodie. Because the teen had hernia surgery days before the February incident, McKendell said the victim returned to the hospital.

During a March town council meeting, WBOC TV quoted King as saying he was trying to protect his property:

"That night I was not the mayor, I was a property owner, a business owner, and I was concerned. It has nothing to do with me being the mayor."

WBOC also quoted King as saying he would not be stepping down as mayor unless he were to be convicted and found guilty.

Camden's five-term mayor

Prior to running for office in Camden, King was a police officer for nine years in the Kent County town of about 4,000 people. He then went on to become a town council member, vice-mayor and the town’s acting mayor at the end of January 2014 after W.G. Edmanson II stepped down after he was appointed a Justice of the Peace Court judge.

King was elected Camden’s mayor later that year.

King was elected mayor as Camden had made progress following an embezzlement scandal that saw the former town manager, James Plumley, defraud the town of more than $120,000 in 2010 and 2011 by concocting fake work invoices for building repairs and keeping the proceeds.

The scheme devastated the town’s already-strained finances, forcing staff cuts that included police officers.

Plumley pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft in Superior Court and was sentenced in 2012 to 18 months probation. His co-conspirator, Smyrna contractor Mark A. Moore, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and also was sentenced to probation.

During an unsuccessful bid for a state senate seat in 2018, King said public safety would be one of his top issues if elected.

“As a former police officer, I have a passion for public safety,” he said at the time. “One of the biggest differences between myself and my opponent is on our approach to public safety. I have rebuilt the police force in Camden, and have helped to reduce crime. Meanwhile, my opponent has voted to reduce drug sentences and make life easier on criminals, all while drug crime is on the rise. I will focus on making our streets safe for everyone, not on making life easier for criminals.”

King lost to Democrat Trey Paradee.

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Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Camden Mayor Justin King pleads guilty to misdemeanor charges