By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton animal control Saul “Nate” Barson, arrested Monday on sex crimes charges involving a 13-year-old boy, went through an “extensive” pre-employment background check in 2015 that found no criminal record, officials said this week in releasing details of the investigation., Councilwoman Heather H. Howard, also the town’s police commissioner, said Tuesday that the probe included checking fingerprints and five employment references., Municipal health officer and assistant administrator Jeffrey C. Grosser, Barson’s supervisor since Barson started working for the town in July 2015, said Tuesday the investigation was “due to the fact that he would have interaction with the police, through the deer cull program, responding to things.”, Mayor Liz Lempert on Wednesday released a memo from Police Chief Nicholas K. Sutter to town officials in which he summarized details of that background investigation., In particular, Barson “had no active warrants” or criminal record “and his driver’s license was in good standing,” Chief Sutter wrote. The town looked through state and national criminal data bases and checked records in the towns where Barson had worked or lived, including West Windsor, Lambertville, West Amwell and Doylestown, Pennsylvania, the chief said., Barson, originally from West Windsor, lives in West Amwell with his parents., “Barson had no record in any of these jurisdictions for any police contacts at all,” Chief Sutter wrote., The probe also went into his employment background., “Five references were checked including his employer at the time, Director Bruce Cocuzza, the Lambertville Police Director,” the chief wrote. “These checks revealed, as the report stated, ‘glowing’ recommendations that characterized Nate as a strong worker.”, “In conclusion,” Chief Sutter wrote, “the report revealed nothing negative in his work history or criminal history and as such he was cleared through the background phase.”, Barson has been suspended from his $53,398-a-year-job without pay, the town said this week. He has been accused of committing sex crimes on a youth he had allegedly met through the Internet., Barson, 29, allegedly performed sex acts on the boy, in his pickup truck, in a park on Feb. 3. in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania, authorities have alleged. He surrendered himself to Solebury Police, who arrested him Monday. He faces sexual assault and other charges that carry up to 71 years in prison., “This is a very serious case,” said deputy Bucks County District Attorney Chelsey Jackman, who is prosecuting Barson., “This was really shocking and upsetting,” Howard said., Barson has turned to Langhorne-based attorney Steven M. Jones to defend him., “The allegation’s obviously serious. He takes them very seriously,” Jones said this week by phone. “We can’t comment on the charges in the active case.”, In response to the town releasing the details of the background investigation, Jones said: “They recognized that he was fit for the position. And he did a lot of good for the community in that capacity.”, Barson bailed himself out of Bucks County Jail on Tuesday. A date for his preliminary hearing before a judge is tentatively set for April 3., In his absence, Princeton will have Montgomery Township provide animal control through a shared service agreement, officials have said., Asked if the town would look to fire Barson, Mayor Lempert said earlier in the week that the municipality has made no decisions beyond giving him an unpaid suspension., She the town has “offered our full cooperation” to Solebury Police., “I don’t know the details of … what has been requested if anything at this point,” Mayor Lempert said when asked if Pennsylvania authorities want to see any of Barson’s town issued email and cell phone records., Town administrator Marc D. Dashield said Wednesday that he is unaware of law enforcement requesting such information from the municipality., The town has put a boot on Barson’s town-issued vehicle, parked across the street from the main municipal building. The truck was not the one involved in the alleged sex crime., Barson lives at home with his adopted parents, Ray and Sharyn, in West Amwell, a Hunterdon County town located some four miles away from where the alleged offense occurred. Ray Barson is an attorney with an office on Nassau Street, and serves as the municipal court judge in West Amwell. The elder Barson, son of the late restaurant owner Samuel Barson, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
