North Plainfield police officer fired for sex with homeless woman won’t get job back

TRENTON – A state appellate court, saying "police officers are held to a higher standard," has upheld the firing of a North Plainfield police officer for having sex with a homeless woman.

The appellate panel in a 24-page decision upheld retired Superior Court Judge Thomas Miller's dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Mikeedwar Jean-Baptiste contesting his termination.

Jean-Baptiste argued he should not have been fired because the sex was off-duty with a homeless woman whom he encountered on the job.

But Miller ruled, and the appellate court agreed, that Jean-Baptiste's termination was "the only appropriate discipline for misconduct in office while both on and off duty."

Jean-Baptiste was fired after a hearing officer, retired Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz, found that the police department had "evidence clearly and convincingly demonstrating that Jean-Baptiste was guilty of misconduct."

The case began on March 2, 2017 when the woman came to North Plainfield police headquarters seeking help because she and her young son were homeless and had no place to go, according to court papers.

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After learning the woman and her child had been ejected from their home, Jean-Baptiste followed her in a patrol car to the Somerset County Board of Social Services office in North Plainfield.

During that trip, Jean-Baptiste used the patrol car's mobile computer terminal to check the ownership of the vehicle the woman was driving, according to the borough's legal brief.

After accompanying the woman to the social services office, Jean-Baptiste returned to police headquarters. Later, the woman returned to headquarters and asked to speak to Jean-Baptiste because they still had no place to stay.

At the end of his shift, Jean-Baptiste offered to drive the woman and her child to the Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge on Route 22.

Jean-Baptiste told investigators that on the way to the motel, the woman began to flirt with him. After Jean-Baptiste said he was known at the motel and did not want to be seen with a woman there, they discussed going to another motel.

After deciding against the Garden State Motor Lodge in Union, Jean-Baptist drove the woman to the Kenilworth Inn in Kenilworth where he rented a room for her, according to court papers.

Jean-Baptiste learned that the woman was a victim of domestic abuse and her current boyfriend was the abuser. Jean-Baptiste then left the room to get snacks and clothing for the woman and, according to court papers, he returned with the snacks, two pieces of his wife's clothing, a box of condoms and a bottle of Hennessy Cognac.

After the woman's child fell asleep, Jean-Baptiste offered to give her a back massage and had sex with her, according to court papers.

After Jean-Baptiste left, the woman reported to Kenilworth police that the sex was against her will. Kenilworth police turned the matter over the Union County Prosecutor's Office which filed the criminal charges against Jean-Baptiste which were later dismissed.

In questioning by the prosecutor's office, Jean-Baptiste admitted having sex with the woman, according to a transcript of the interrogation.

After the criminal charges were dropped, the matter was forwarded to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office which found no crimes but recommended the North Plainfield Police Department file disciplinary charges.

Jean-Baptiste argued in the lawsuit against the borough that he should have been given "progressive discipline," instead of termination, because of his record as a Marine veteran and police officer.

But Miller ruled the termination was necessary for " the department's need to maintain its credibility and status in the community."

"By using his position to ingratiate and then manipulate (the woman) into a position where sex, even purposefully consensual sex, was the result of his planning, (Jean-Baptiste) used this young woman whom he found in a highly unequal position to his position as a police officer for a sexual adventure," Miller wrote.

The appellate court agreed with Miller, saying Jean-Baptiste's no prior disciplinary record, is "irrelevant" because employers are not required to practice progressive discipline.

The appellate court wrote that in previous cases, off-duty misconduct can justify termination in non-civil service jurisdictions.

The appellate court also noted that Jean-Baptiste had admitted that his sexual encounter with the woman constituted misconduct when he testified during a hearing, "I shouldn't have been there."

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ police officer fired for sex with homeless woman won’t get job back