chapel, headstones vandalized
Youths to face restitution
hearing in cemetery spree
May incident saw
chapel, headstones vandalized
BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
Amid a veil of secrecy as quiet as the Jackson graveyard they vandalized on May 12, two boys found responsible for a rampage of destruction in St. Vladimir Russian Orthodox Christian Cemetery will soon find out the penalty for their actions.
"Apparently the case went to court and there will be a restitution hearing," said Martin Hrynick, president of the cemetery, which is on Cassville Road (Route 571). "I heard that the case had been adjudicated and that’s about the size of it."
Robert Gasser, assistant prosecutor and public information officer of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Toms River, confirmed last week that a decision had been reached in the matter and that a restitution hearing will be held. He said that hearing will not be open to the public.
Gasser declined to comment further on the process due to the age of the boys involved. At the time charges were filed against the boys last spring, they were 11 and 12. No other complaints have been filed in the matter.
Gasser would not say when the case was adjudicated. He also would not state whether the boys’ court-appointed attorneys had entered a plea of guilty or if their clients had been found guilty of the crime, which Hrynick said was estimated to be well over $100,000 in damage to the cemetery.
However, Hrynick had formed his own opinion in the matter.
"It’s a safe assumption that the boys were found guilty or there wouldn’t be a restitution hearing," he said.
Hrynick said that he only discovered the disposition of the case when he received a letter from the county asking for an estimate of the damage in preparation for a restitution hearing.
"I’m making no prejudgment, but I’ll wait for the hearing to come up, and then go with the flow," he said. "I’m told it takes a few months, but I don’t know when it will be held. Either I or someone else will be present if requested."
According to Sgt. Laurel Hester, supervising investigator/juveniles of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the goal of restitution is to create a sense of remorse in the juvenile. She said the purpose of ordering restitution is to rehabilitate the child so that he may become a productive member of society by the time he is an adult — not necessarily to pay in full the cost of the damage done.
Whether or not restitution is ordered in the case, Hrynick said further legal action could be taken in civil court by surviving families of the grave sites that were vandalized by the boys. Hrynick said that of the four families found for the 12 headstones damaged beyond repair, none had insurance to cover the cost of replacing the expensive monuments to their loved ones.
"I haven’t spoken to every [family], but I imagine they are all waiting for some resolution," he said. "I’m not sure if they are aware that a restitution hearing is going to be held, but a lawsuit to cover the expense of replacing the headstones is an option that is open to them."
The incident that precipitated the hearing took place this past spring when two boys riding their bicycles on Route 571 at about 5:30 p.m. May 12 decided to enter the 26-acre St. Vladimir’s cemetery even though the gates had been locked an hour earlier.
The spree began with the vandalizing of vigil candles and food offerings that had been left on graves as part of the Russian Orthodox Easter tradition the week before, Jackson Police Detective Lt. John Siedler said.
After the suspects desecrated a small chapel on the cemetery grounds, they overturned 74 headstones. Twelve headstones were destroyed when they struck the ground, according to Hrynick, who said the actual estimates of the damage could vary until the replacement stones could be individually appraised. He said the headstones were estimated at about $8,000 each.
The tiny chapel erected and maintained by the Society of St. John the Baptist has already been repaired at an estimated cost of $3,000.
A break in the case came after extensive coverage of the incident by the media. Police said the resulting publicity motivated the parents of both of the involved juveniles to come forward and offer to cooperate with the investigation.
Police said although the boys live in the Cassville section of Jackson, where the historic cemetery that was founded in 1939 is located, they were not members of the Russian Orthodox community.
Detective Mitch Cowit, the bias officer for the Jackson police, investigated the damage to the cemetery as a possible bias crime. Both boys were interviewed at length, but Siedler said that no bias was behind the vandalism. He said the suspects admitted to causing the destruction for fun.
"I never believed it to be a bias crime," said Hrynick, "and the police [eventually] agreed with me."
Because of the extent of the vandalism, Siedler said the boys were charged with criminal mischief and desecrating religious or sectarian premises. The matter was referred to Superior Court, Family Part, in Toms River, where a decision was apparently reached in the case.
The resolution of the case marks a second sad chapter in the cemetery’s history. Eleven years ago, grave sites were also vandalized when 18 headstones were overturned, said Hrynick. The culprits of that vandalism were never caught, he added.
Hrynick has been a steadfast advocate for the dead who are buried at the cemetery. On their behalf, Hrynick has established a fund dedicated to the cost of replacing headstones damaged beyond repair, some of which were carved with imported marble that is no longer available, he said.
"We’ve only raised about $2,000 so far and we’re in a holding pattern until the restitution hearing," said Hrynick. "We welcome any contributions to the fund because we feel we will be needing every dollar we can get."
Anyone interested in contributing to the fund should call Hrynick at (732) 928-1010 for further information.