Prosecutor’s Office looks at fast-growing accounts of alleged inappropriate to illegal behavior
Editor’s note: This story involves a new Instagram page with numerous entries alleging inappropriate behavior on the Ocean City Beach Patrol and other South Jersey beach patrols. Readers should be aware than none of the entries on this page have been independently verified.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – An Instagram page has popped up titled “OCBP_predators,” saying it features “the untold stories of pedophiles, predators, and inappropriate behavior on the beaches of America’s Greatest Family Resort.”
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian said as soon as the city learned about the account the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation.
One of the initial posts on the site reads, “OCBP has more pedophiles in power than not. These men prey on young, impressionable girls on the beach patrol and beach patrons alike. Many underage girls have been harassed by their direct supervisor and no action has been taken to stop this. Repost if you believe these men should be held responsible.”
Since then, there have been numerous posts.
All of the posts are anonymous and cannot be independently verified. Some do not date their experiences so it also is often unclear when what they are alleging occurred.
Some of the posts are also from guards from other southern New Jersey beach patrols relating the same kind of behavior, indicating it is more of a beach patrol issue than an Ocean City issue.
However, some long-serving former guards from the OCBP have attested privately to the newspaper that they find these posts credible based on what they have seen and experienced during their tenures. Within the past two years, one senior OCBP guard and teacher in a local school district was forced out of both positions after pleading guilty to exposing himself to another guard while both were on duty.
“The city was made aware of the Instagram account on the same day it was created, and the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office has begun to investigate the allegations that have been posted there,” city Public Information Officer Doug Bergen wrote Friday afternoon after the Ocean City Sentinel contacted the city for comment about the account.
There were initially about 200 followers of the Instagram account but by Monday, that had swelled to well more than 5,000 with more posts.
“Investigators urge anyone with information or who has been a victim to contact the Prosecutor’s Office at (609) 465-1135, report it anonymously through the Cape May County Sheriff’s Tip Line at cmcsheriff.net (click on “anonymous tip”), or call Cape May County Crime Stoppers at (609) 889-3597,” Bergen wrote.
“The city has strict sexual harassment policies and procedures in place and acts immediately on every reported complaint. Mayor Jay Gillian has directed Fire Chief Jim Smith to build on existing policies and do whatever it takes to ensure employees feel safe coming forward,” Bergen wrote.
“I want to continue to make sure all our city team members work in a safe environment,” Gillian said in Bergen’s release.
One post was about being a teenage lifeguard invited to parties. Part of it reads, “Now that I’m older I realized two things those guys are anything but the best and they only wanted young guards there to either prey on them or make younger girls feel comfortable …. Was absolutely no reason we should’ve been drinking with 30 year old plus men in a house where the rules included no snapchat, no cameras, no saying you were there. …. The culture is toxic to this day.”
Another post reads, “I’m a male lifeguard and can think of multiple times where a female coworker has either told me about some weird s—- like this or I’ve seen it happen myself. Seems like it’s just a part of the culture for a lot of these older dudes.”
In a post saying it happened in 2008 reads, “Sophomore year of high school, my math teacher (also OCBP) brought my girlfriend and her friend over this place to “smoke weed.” He knew I knew and would give me A’s on every test. I would turn in a blank sheet of paper and get a 100. I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation back there. My GF and I were 16.”
A different post – there are dozens on the site – reads, “When I was a rookie, I remember being at first zone muster (our lifeguard morning meeting) and one of our bosses was demonstrating a paddle board rescue. He was around 40/45 years old. He picked a pretty 16 year old girl to be the ‘victim’ then proceeded to pin her down and gyrate on top of her repeatedly. I looked around and every single person was staring in complete shock. Males from 16 to 40 watched this happen and no one said anything. I was never so uncomfortable in my life. I’m a male.”
A “neighboring” beach patrol guard said she “can recall being an impressionable 16 years old and thinking that the senior guards were the coolest. When in reality why would they want to party and how up with girls who JUST turned 18 when they are in the 30s and even 40s?”
Other posts talk about sexually inappropriate behavior they have had to endure, female guards getting touched by male guards and young female guards being asked to go to parties with older male guards, and other posts made far more serious allegations.