Passaic County prosecutor must resign, state senator says

A North Jersey state senator has called for Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes to resign after allegations that Valdes abused a staff member and refused to investigate a group of Paterson police officers who later admitted in federal court that they had beaten and robbed people in the city.

State Sen. Kristin Corrado — a Totowa Republican and former Passaic County clerk who represents the state’s 40th Legislative District — said in a Tuesday statement that she has a "lengthy list of concerns" about the embattled prosecutor, who Corrado said no longer has the trust of the public or law enforcement.

“Given the many failures, abuses, and lapses of judgment demonstrated by Prosecutor Camelia Valdes, it’s increasingly clear she should not continue to serve as Passaic County’s top law enforcement official,” Corrado said in the statement. “The longer she serves as Prosecutor, the more damage she will do to people’s faith in our justice system. If she truly cares about the integrity of her office and the reputations of her colleagues in the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, Ms. Valdes would resign immediately.”

Corrado, who sources say has already blocked Valdes’ appointment to a third term by invoking “senatorial courtesy,” also called on Gov. Phil Murphy to pick a new person to lead the agency of about 185 employees.

The governor’s office declined to comment when asked if Murphy shared Corrado’s concerns or had considered withdrawing Valdes’ nomination. Neither Valdes nor Corrado responded to calls and texts seeking comment.

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It’s the latest — and perhaps weightiest — boulder to fall in the rockslide of troubles, lawsuits and accusations of misconduct that have buried the county prosecutor this year. Although Valdes has endured several calls to step down in the last four months, this is the first time an elected official has picked up the banner and publicly stated that the prosecutor should leave her office of 13 years.

Corrado said in her statement that the twin controversies of Valdes refusing to investigate corrupt Paterson police officers and a suit brought by a former staffer who alleged years of abuse and retaliation were the impetus for the move.

In the Paterson case, Valdes dropped 10 separate investigations targeting five city police officers whose crimes were so frequent they dubbed themselves “the robbery squad.”

From June 2016 to September 2019, Valdes’ Public Integrity Unit sent Paterson’s internal affairs division 10 letters saying there wasn’t enough evidence to criminally charge the officers.

Valdes’ own investigators had looked into one of the rogue cops, Eudy Ramos, seven times on their own, according to the letters. But Valdes declined to pursue a criminal case.

Former Paterson Police Chief Troy Oswald said last week that he took his concerns to the FBI after the county prosecutor’s decision. Federal authorities later arrested eight Paterson officers in connection with a variety of crimes.

Passaic County released the prosecutor’s letters after a records request from Paterson Press, which is affiliated with The Record and NorthJersey.com.

Local social justice activists were outraged by the news, which they described as a failure to protect the community from crooked cops. And they called on Valdes to abdicate the position.

The controversy over the investigations closely followed a lawsuit by a Prosecutor’s Office staffer who alleged that Valdes forced her to perform an array of personal tasks that had nothing to do with her job.

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This included twice helping Valdes move, catering the prosecutor’s parties, putting up her Christmas decorations, cleaning her attic, shampooing her rugs, pulling dead rats from her garbage cans and dropping $1,000 on a deposit for Valdes’ father’s funeral, among other things.

When the staffer, Daisy Vargas, ended the friendship, Valdes allegedly retaliated by creating a work environment so hostile that it pushed Vargas into the hospital with severe depression, according to the lawsuit.

And in July, representatives of police unions throughout the county lodged a vote of "no confidence" and demanded that Valdes resign immediately.

In an open letter accompanying the vote, members of the Passaic County Conference said Valdes had ineffectively staffed her office, devoted resources to investigating her own officers while neglecting actual criminal investigations, and demonstrated "little concern for the effective administration of her duties."

"Her shocking lack of insight and judgment into her own actions renders her ill-suited for this crucial leadership position," the letter read.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Passaic Prosecutor Valdes must resign, NJ state senator says