BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
Facing charges that he sexually assaulted a former female student, veteran Eatontown Councilman John J. Collins, a popular music teacher at Memorial School, has been officially suspended with pay from his teaching position of 35 years.
A 20-year Republican councilman, Collins intends to plead not guilty to the charges of aggravated sexual assault and other related offenses that were brought against him following his March 15 arrest by Eatontown police, according to his attorney Charles J. Uliano, of West Long Branch.
Collins, 57, of Cloverdale Court, is charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree offense, and two counts of child endangerment, a second-degree offense, for the alleged incidents that took place over 10 months last May and up to March 7, according to Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Robert Honecker.
The first-degree aggravated assault charges stem from the fact that as a teacher, Collins had supervisory authority over the victim, who graduated from Memorial and now attends Monmouth Regional High School in Tinton Falls, Honecker confirmed.
The victim, whose identity remains undisclosed, is now 16 and a member of the Eatontown Municipal Band, a community-based activity that practices at Memorial, but is not associated with the school district.
Though he remains free on $160,000 bail, Collins has been absent from the middle school on Grant Avenue since March 16 when Eatontown Superintendent of Schools Jean E. “Nina” Hoover suspended him with pay in the wake of his arrest.
The district Board of Education affirmed Hoover’s decision by unanimously passing a formal resolution to suspend Collins with pay pending an indictment during a special emergency meeting held Monday night inside Memorial’s all-purpose room.
Besides the board, only around four other persons attended the approximate 40-minute-long meeting where Board Attorney Dennis A. Collins, no relation to the music teacher, read the resolution that board members had come up with in a closed session of about 30 minutes.
No board members spoke publicly about the charges or the resolution itself at the request of board Vice President Kevin Gonzalez, who chaired the meeting.
With the approved, formal resolution, the board has acted upon the superintendent’s adverse action against the teacher, its employee, in compliance with state laws, the board attorney explained.
Should Collins be indicted, the current suspension will automatically be converted to a suspension without pay, the resolution states.
As of 2003, Collins’ salary was $79,131, district records show.
No date has yet been set for Collins to appear in court, according to Uliano and Honecker.
Any suspension will remain in full force until further board action and a copy of the complete resolution will be forwarded to Collins and the Monmouth County superintendent of schools.
Since the arrest, teachers certified to instruct kindergarten to eighth grade and other music teachers employed in the district have been leading Collins’ vocal and instrumental music classes, Hoover said.
“This is a very supportive faculty,” Hoover said.
At the time of his apprehension, Collins was teaching nine eighth-grade music classes at Memorial, which houses just over 300 seventh- and eighth-graders. He also oversaw and directed the school’s band and chorus.
“There are at least 100 students in his classes plus the band and choir,” Hoover said. “He has a very strong program. The students really like his classes.”
Overall, the district, which also consists of three elementary schools, is shocked at the allegations, said Hoover, who learned of Collins’ arrest after police contacted her at home soon after he was apprehended outside an unnamed Wyckoff Road restaurant.
Hoover, in turn, contacted other administrators and board members immediately. Emergency faculty meetings to discuss Collins’ situation were held at all district schools.
Letters from the district that announced the arrest without naming Collins were sent home with all students on March 16, Hoover confirmed.
“It is truly a sad time for the students and faculty in Eatontown,” Hoover said.
In the meantime, the district also brought in counselors to address students’ questions or concerns about the alleged incidents or arrests through last week, Hoover said.
Most of the alleged sexual contact took place inside Collins’ classroom at Memorial, following Monday night practices of the Eatontown Municipal Band, according to Honecker.
Collins had first met the victim when she was his student at Memorial, Honecker confirmed. He then stayed in touch with her when she joined the municipal band, an activity open to amateur musicians of all ages.
“The initial contact was in 2003 and it escalated into criminal contact in 2004,” Honecker said.
The prosecutor’s office began investigating Collins after Tinton Falls police notified them that the teacher and the underage victim had been observed kissing by witnesses gathered outside of Monmouth Regional on March 7, Honecker explained.
Monmouth Regional Superintendent Patrick Collum, having been told about alleged behavior by Collins and the victim who were seated inside the teacher’s parked car outside of the school building, contacted Tinton Falls police.
“The young female and Mr. Collins were observed kissing inside Mr. Collins’ car and not in a fraternal matter,” Honecker said.
County investigators then began trailing Collins, an action that led to his apprehension eight days later, Honecker said.
Collins had just finished dining with his wife of over 37 years inside the restaurant, which Honecker would not name, at the time of his arrest.
In the meantime, borough officials could not yet predict what Collins’ political future, if any, might be.
Council President Theodore Lewis Jr. indicated that if the governing body were to take any position on the charges against their colleague, they would address them at the council meeting scheduled for last night.
However, Lewis, who indicated that he has not talked to Collins since the arrest, acknowledged that the council cannot legally force the accused councilman, who is one of only two Republicans on the governing body, to step down.
“I’m unsure what [Collins] will do,” Lewis said. “We’ll have to see at the meeting.”
Unless Collins is convicted, he cannot be ordered to resign under state law, said Borough Attorney Gene Anthony.
Collins receives an annual stipend of $7,082 for his council position, according to borough administrator Michael Trotta.
Mayor Gerald Tarantolo, who was reportedly vacationing out of the country, could not be reached for comment at press time.
Collins, whose seat is up for re-election this year, was recently inducted into the New Jersey League of Municipalities Elected Officials’ Hall of Fame. He was also named Memorial’s Teacher of the Year in 2004.