March 24, 2015
Thom Carroll, File/PhillyVoice
A Camden County Police Department is seen in the city of Camden.
A Camden County police lieutenant has pleaded guilty to charges related to a masturbation allegation at a Cherry Hill Starbucks.
Police Lt. Benito Gonzalez Jr. pleaded guilty to a lewdness charge in Cherry Hill Municipal Court on March 11, according to a court record retrieved by the Courier Post. He will pay fines and court costs of $360.
The May 2014 incident was captured on surveillance cameras and posted on the Cherry Hill police Facebook page, leading to Gonzalez’s arrest and
temporary suspension from duty without pay, the Courier Post reports.
Gonzalez is a 17-year veteran who ran the Camden department's
narcotics unit. He is a resident of Deptford Township.
Gonzalez is participating in a dismissal program that took effect in January 2014 and covers eligible defendants who commit a
disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense.
He will be monitored for one year on probationary status, and if he commits no additional infractions, the judge could dismiss the lewdness charge, the Courier Post said.
Six months after that, Gonzalez could apply to have the criminal charge expunged from his record.
Read the full Courier Post article here.
