By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
An employee of Princeton HealthCare System will not plead guilty to sexually assaulting a female patient at a facility in Princeton, a decision that blocks him from getting into a program to avoid criminal prosecution.
Jonathan D. Hodges on Monday was back before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert C. Billmeier, sitting in Trenton, for a status conference on his case. His attorney, noted defense lawyer Robin Lord, told the judge that Mr. Hodges maintains his “innocence.”
He appears headed for a trial for an alleged incident in January 2015 at Princeton House, where he worked as a mental health associate, involving a then-34-year-old woman. He allegedly entered her room, “pushed himself” on her and then committed the assault by putting his hands into her pants and then underwear, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has said.
He could have gotten into the pretrial intervention program to resolve his case, but since he is charged with a second-degree crime, a New Jersey court rule says he would have to plead guilty as a condition for getting into PTI. State lawmakers, in response to the outrage over the PTI case involving former NFL running back Ray Rice in Atlantic County, changed the PTI requirements to include the guilty plea for higher degree crimes.
The PTI program enables those who successfully complete the supervision and other requirements to walk away with their charges dismissed and no criminal record.
But Mr. Hodges’ refusal to plead guilty was aired publicly earlier this month during a court appearance before the same judge. He has not changed his mind in the time since then.
He is looking at the possibility of a long state prison term. Should Mr. Hodges, 37, of Trenton, go to trial and be convicted, he faces up to 10 years.
With the case looking like it will go before a jury, Ms. Lord prepared a pre-trial memo for the judge. No trial date was set Monday.
In the meantime, Ms. Lord will seek to have the judge throw out a statement that Mr. Hodges gave. In court, assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Jennifer Downing characterized the statement as a “confession,” one she indicated that she would use in the case against him.
Outside the courtroom, Ms. Downing declined to elaborate on what Mr. Hodges said in the statement.
The judge scheduled a hearing on the issue for Sept.21.
Mr. Hodges is free on $50,000 bail. Princeton HealthCare has said he remains an employee pending the outcome of the case, and that he has no contact with patients.
