By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton animal control officer Saul “Nate” Barson is due to go on trial late this summer to face charges that he had sex with a 13-year-old boy in a Pennsylvania park in February.
Even as he fights for his freedom, Barson might not have a job to return to regardless of the outcome of the trial, scheduled for Sept. 13, in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County, in Doylestown. He has been suspended without pay since Feb. 20, the day of his arrest, from the $53,398-a-year job he has had since July 2015.
But this week, Princeton has talked of extending an agreement with a neighboring municipality to share an animal control officer, and raised the prospect of hiring someone new to fill Barson’s job.
“Right now, we have a shared services agreement with Montgomery,” Mayor Liz Lempert said by phone Monday. “I would expect that, if and when there’s a termination, then we can look at the options that are in front of us.”
Those options could be to continue the shared services agreement or the hiring of a replacement for Barson, she said.
Dr. George DiFerdinando, chairman of the town’s board of health, said Monday that his understanding is that the town would extend the deal with Montgomery for another six months “and then assess where we are at the end of that period.”
“It worked well for the first six months,” he said of the arrangement. “They’ve been providing service in a timely fashion.”
But asked if Barson would be welcomed back to his job should he be exonerated, Mayor Lempert replied, “That hasn’t been discussed.”
“I’m not comfortable speculating about … this,” she said when asked if the town could deny him his job in that scenario. “At this point, we’re making sure that animal services are being provided to residents.”
Barson’s legal troubles have him staring at a lengthy prison term, originating with an encounter on the Internet with a minor.
Barson, 29, allegedly met the victim, a resident of Pennsylvania, through Grinder, a hookup app for gays and bisexuals, the boy testified at a hearing in March. The youth claimed to be curious about making friends and said he had found Barson’s account.
Barson, going by the name “Jake,” and the boy later corresponded through Snapchat, the youth has testified, and arranged to meet Feb. 3 at Pat Livezey Park in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania, located a short drive from where Barson was living at the time with his parents in Hunterdon County.
The 25-minute-encounter occurred inside Barson’s pickup truck and ended when the boy’s mother arrived on the scene. She copied down the license plate number of the pickup, with authorities arresting Barson Feb. 20 and charging him with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and other offenses that, combined, carry more than 70 years in prison.
His trial, originally due to start next week, is scheduled to begin Sept. 13, the Bucks County Prosecutor’s Office said this week. Barson’s defense lawyer Steven M. Jones, a former Bucks County deputy district attorney, did not respond to text or phone messages seeking comment.
Barson is free on bail. His subsequent decision to vacation in Disney World, in March, alarmed law enforcement officials. Barson is not allowed to be alone with anyone under the age of 18, per a bail condition.
