Middletown coach indicted on ’92-’95 sex-assault charges
Victim waited 5 years
to press charges against
former BYAA president
Years after the fact, a case alleging molestation of a teen basketball player by his coach is being prosecuted.
Former Bayshore Youth Athletic Association President Robert McGowan, 43, formerly of Keansburg and now of the Belford section in Middletown, has been indicted on charges of sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual conduct, criminal sexual conduct and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Marc Fliedner, director of the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit.
McGowan’s accuser, an unnamed 22-year-old male, pursued prosecution himself when he was about to graduate from college, Fliedner said. The victim had the option to press the charges when he turned 18, but Fliedner said he chose to wait.
"I consider the alleged victim to be a very brave young man," said Fliedner. "It’s not easy to pursue something like this years after the fact. I think I can safely say, without compromise to the case, he is to be commended for his courage."
According to Fliedner’s records of the victim’s statement, the alleged sexual abuse incidents started with one incident at McGowan’s mother’s Middletown home when the victim was 14 years old and in the eighth grade. McGowan was the boy’s BYAA coach at the time.
The bulk of the incidents allegedly took place between the spring of 1992 and the summer of 1995 at McGowan’s, which was in Keansburg, according to Fliedner.
Fliedner said the sexual encounters allegedly started with fondling and escalated over the years to a point where the boy was offered money in exchange for sexual favors and his silence.
Fliedner also said that pornography was used in some of the alleged abuse instances. In all, there were approximately 15 sexual abuse incidents.
"Part of the prosecutor’s office’s job is to verify, for purposes of indictment, that McGowan had ample opportunity to commit the crimes alleged. In other words, we had to confirm that he was, indeed, alone with the victim on multiple occasions. We were able to verify that," said Fliedner.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office has been aware of the victim’s allegations since 1995, when the victim, age 17, apprised his high school guidance counselor of the abuse incidents. After hearing the accusations, the counselor reported them to the prosecutor’s office.
To Fliedner’s knowledge, McGowan no longer coached the alleged victim after the prosecutor’s office was advised of the incidents. He couldn’t confirm for certain whether McGowan remained a coach to other teens in the league at the time.
The teen’s parents did not press charges on the boy’s behalf, Fliedner said, because they decided that course of action was not in the boy’s best interest at such an emotionally charged time in his life, with college on the horizon and a lot of typical teen-age issues to deal with already.
Fliedner was quick to say, though, that he didn’t want to project too much on what the parents’ reasons may or may not have been for not pursuing prosecution at the time.
New Jersey law offers the option to victims of abuse to proceed with prosecution when they become adults, and that is the avenue that was pursued.
An arraignment in state Superior Court in Freehold is slated to take place within the next few weeks. Bail will be set at that time.
McGowan could not be reached for comment at press time.