By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — A township man who formerly served as a chief of the South Old Bridge Volunteer Fire Co. has been arrested and charged with the aggravated sexual assault of a juvenile girl that allegedly occurred two to three years ago.
Thomas J. Behnke, 41, an NJ Transit employee, was arrested Aug. 6 at township police headquarters, according to Raj Chopra, an investigator with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Behnke, who is reportedly still an active member of the fire department, is accused of having sexual relations with the girl, now 16.
The assaults allegedly occurred over an unspecified period of time when the victim was between 12 and 13 years old, Chopra said.
He has also been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, Chopra said.
Following questioning by Old Bridge police Sgt. Tom Piscitelli, Behnke was taken to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center, North Brunswick, where he remained held on $175,000 bail, said police Capt. Robert Bonfante.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is handling the investigation of the case, Bonfante said.
Chopra declined to provide exact dates or locations of the alleged assaults.
"It happened over a period of time," said Chopra.
The victim and the accused assailant knew each other for an unspecified period of time before the sexual assaults reportedly took place, Chopra said.
"The victim and the suspect were acquainted before any incidents occurred," Chopra said.
He said authorities believe the victim was sexually assaulted on several occasions, but would not say how many times.
"It happened more than once," he said.
An attempt to reach a comment from the fire company was unsuccessful.