Fire Rescue News - AC firefighter at center of 2009 teenage firehouse sex allegations fired after administrative hearing
ATLANTIC CITY - The city firefighter accused of inviting three teenage women into a fire station more than a year ago and having them perform sexual acts has been fired after an administrative hearing.
But his attorney says the city violated his client's rights, and he is confident the "defamed" firefighter will be exonerated.
Richard Williams Jr. was accused last summer of inviting a......Continue Reading
19-year-old and two 16-year-olds into Fire Station 2 in May 2009 for pizza. Inside the station on Indiana and Baltic avenues, the two 16-year-olds alleged in a lawsuit that they touched Williams' genitals and he sexually gratified himself in front of them.
After conducting an investigation, Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said Williams would not be charged criminally because the girls were of the age of consent and there was no official misconduct because Williams had not met the girls as part of his official duties. Then-Attorney General Anne Milgram agreed with the decision, but Mayor Lorenzo Langford did not.
An administrative hearing - which is closed to the public - was held, but attorney Joseph Levin said he already knew "the fix was in."
"We fully anticipated that he would be terminated at the local hearing level," Levin said. "The mayor and his administration who rushed to judgment and concluded that there was wrongdoing with no evidence are the ones who appointed the hearing officer, paid the hearing office and scheduled the hearing in the city. We knew that we would not prevail at this level."
Instead, Levin said he used this time to gather evidence for a hearing outside of the city. Papers were filed with the Office of Administrative Law on Wednesday.
Levin said he believed the case was going to remain private for now, but then heard Langford announce Williams' termination on the air to local radio host Pinky Kravitz.
"I'm extremely upset that this is being played out in public," he said. "These false allegations are damaging to Firefighter Williams, and we're going to seek legal redress after we win this case. He's essentially being defamed without evidence."
Williams was suspended without pay more than a year ago. A termination notice was mailed to Williams on Friday, but such papers have to be delivered in person, which was not done until Wednesday, Levin confirmed.
In December, Superior Court Judge Valerie Armstrong dismissed administrative charges against three other firefighters - including two captains - who were disciplined for being in the station when the inciden allegedly took play. The city "seriously violated" their rights to due process, Armstrong said at the time.
