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Two male police officers in a New Jersey town filed the same startling charge against a supervisor, alleging he sexually harassed them and then assaulted them.
Veteran Constables John Minacapelli and Joe Guiamano both work for the South River Police Department. They have something else in common that they wish they hadn’t: allegations of sexual abuse by a senior officer.
Minacapelli and Guiamano claim Lieutenant John McKenna was their attacker. Minacapelli said it started when he was working with the lieutenant in the motorcycle unit in 2017.
He would comment on the beauty of my motorcycle pants, the officer said, adding that it intensified from there. Once he touched me and another he grabbed me He grabbed me by the groin and I had to push him away.
Mincapelli told NBC New York that he has experienced a flood of emotions since the alleged incidents, from anger to shame. He said he kept it all a secret until McKenna, by chance, was transferred to the Detective Office. In this position he began supervising Guiamano who has an almost identical history of alleged abuse.
It all started with sexual harassment. He was imitating as if he was masturbating in his pants. I’ll tell him you’re freaking me out, Guiamano said.
In June 2020, Guiamano said he was also sexually assaulted by the lieutenant.
He met me at the door. He grabbed my groin and squeezed it. I jumped back and said what the hell are you doing? Guiamano alleges. And, he laughed.
McKenna is currently suspended with pay.
Guiamano said he went to see Chief Mark Tinitigan and was then stunned to learn that the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office was charging McKenna with harassment, a disorderly persons offense, for improper touching.
But in my complaint it said it was for grabbing my testicles and hurting me, which happened, Guiamano said. Minacapelli faced various hurdles that would completely prevent the charges.
They refused to charge on my behalf because they said the statute of limitations had passed. It fractured me, he said. I am a victim of sexual assault. And the statute of limitations had not passed on that.
An attorney for the lieutenant told NBC New York that McKenna maintains that any allegation of improper touching, assault or harassment is a fiction.
The two officers went on paid medical leave shortly after word spread in their department about their allegations of abuse. Minacapelli said he had a real panic attack one day at work, while Guiamano said he was ostracized by his co-workers.
I feel like I’ve been embarrassed and banned by my own department, he said.
Guiamano says the criminal case has kept being postponed, and last March the county attorney’s office told him in a text that we don’t think we can get a harassment conviction. We will reject this accusation.
On Tuesday, the two men filed civil lawsuits against the South River Police Department, naming the chief and lieutenant. The chief referred NBC New York to the prosecutor’s office, who declined to comment.
My clients will go all the way, said officers’ lawyer Juan Fernandez. They want a trial. And they want to be heard so that it doesn’t happen again.
Minacapelli said he had a theory as to why their case was not treated the same as other cases.
Men are generally not the victims. His female victims. And that’s why I believe we’ve been mistreated all this time, he said.
But both also said they wanted to share their stories in order to break down stereotypes, including perceptions of the men in blue.
Always consoled the victim. We never believe we were going to be victims, at least that’s how I feel, Minacapelli said.
I know the truth. I know what happened to me. I’m not going to sit and hide, Guiamano said. I will no longer be ashamed.
As long as the current administration of the departments remains in place, the two officers said they were not sure they would ever be able to return to work there, with too many painful memories tormenting their minds and well-being.
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