MILLSTONE: Township man charged in child sex case found dead in apparent suicide

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   MILLSTONE — A 53-year-old township man, who was charged six weeks ago with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy, died Friday in his Shield Road home in what authorities are calling an apparent suicide.
   Carlton A. Golden Jr., one of three men charged in a state police investigation involving sex crimes with the minor, was found dead in his garage by a relative at about 11:40 a.m. April 1, said state police Lt. Stephen Jones.
   Mr. Golden’s death was “an apparent suicide,” Lt. Jones said, but he declined to provide additional details.
   The other two men charged in the case live in Toms River and Robbinsville. State police are handling the investigation because it involves suspects in three different counties.
   Mr. Golden had been arrested Feb. 25 at his Millstone home and charged with second-degree sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a minor, Lt. Jones said. Mr. Golden was free on $250,000 bail at the time of his death.
   A Toms River man also was arrested the same day in connection with the case and released on $250,000 bail. Dan Dinnebeil, 23, turned himself in to Toms River police on Feb. 25 and was charged with second-degree sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, Lt. Jones said.
   The third man linked to the ongoing investigation is David J. Herzfeld, 55, of Walden Circle, Robbinsville, who was arrested March 17 for allegedly engaging in prostitution with the 15-year-old boy, court records show. Mr. Herzfeld was charged with second-degree sexual assault, third-degree child endangerment, and an additional charge of engaging in prostitution with a minor, Lt. Jones said.
   According to the criminal complaint filed by the state police in Robbinsville Municipal Court, Mr. Herzfeld made arrangements to have the juvenile brought to his Walden Circle residence, where the alleged crime occurred.
   Mr. Herzfeld, who is listed online as the president of the Hampton Chase condominium owners association in the Foxmoor development, was released from the county jail March 19 on $150,000 full cash bail.
   Last week Mr. Herzfeld was admitted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick where he remained hospitalized on Tuesday, hospital officials said. The reason for his hospitalization has not been disclosed.
   Pending the outcome of the criminal case, Mr. Herzfeld has been suspended without pay from his $100,810-a-year job as the assistant director of financial services at the state Department of Health and Senior Services, where he worked for 22 years, the department’s spokesperson, Marilyn Riley, said Tuesday.
   Lt. Jones declined to discuss further details of the case, including how Mr. Golden, Mr. Herzfeld and Mr. Dinnebeil were connected, other than to say they were “all part of the same ongoing investigation.” Lt. Jones also would not disclose the town where the alleged victim lived.