MILLTOWN – After pleading guilty to stealing money from a youth police program, borough Police Sgt. Eric Rahn is expected to be sentenced to probation and will forfeit his employment as an officer.
Rahn, 41, of Milltown, pleaded guilty to third-degree official misconduct before state Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa in New Brunswick on Aug. 17. He is accused of stealing more than $1,300 from the Milltown Police Explorers Post No. 2000, for which he served as chief adviser.
A sentencing date has been set for Oct. 19. Rahn’s expected probation will be conditioned upon his payment of full restitution to the Explorers post. He will also be forever barred from holding any governmental position in New Jersey.
Rahn obtained the funds by cashing checks written to “cash” on the Police Explorers’ bank account between January 2003 and this past March, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. Rahn was the only signatory on the account.
Rahn was already on administrative leave for an unrelated matter when he was charged in April following an investigation by the borough police Internal Affairs Unit and the Prosecutor’s Office Special Prosecution Unit. He has remained suspended without pay since being charged.
The investigation was conducted by Investigator Michael Daniewicz of the Prosecutor’s Office and Milltown Police Lt. Douglas Cole. Assistant Prosecutor Brian D. Gillet appeared before DeVesa on the guilty plea.
Before joining the Milltown Police Department in July 1989, Rahn worked for more than five years with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department. In May 2000, he formed the local Explorers post. According to a promotional card the police department issued in 2003 for each officer, Rhan has a wife and two children, and was assigned to patrol and traffic safety.