Ex-Morris Twp. cop accused of retaliation against superior

An ex-Morris Township police officer has filed for admission into a special probation program to resolve a charge of retaliating against a former Police Department supervisor.

Former Patrolman Steven R. Crump, 36, was charged on June 16 with a little-applied criminal statute that alleges “retaliation for post-official action.”

After an investigation, Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Thomas Primo charged Crump with victimizing a former fellow Morris Township Police Department supervisor, who was not identified in a criminal complaint. The crime spanned Jan. 20 to April 7 of this year, according to the complaint.

Crump allegedly had a poor relationship with a particular superior officer while working for the department, first as a dispatcher and then as a patrolman as of 2008. After Crump resigned in 2013, he allegedly learned the superior was going through a divorce and emailed the man’s estranged spouse information she could use in the divorce proceeding.

The superior officer learned of Crump’s alleged actions and the Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation. The charge of retaliation for post-official action is a fourth-degree offense, punishable upon conviction by up to 18 months in prison.

The charge is defined by law as an act of harming another by any unlawful act with the purpose to retaliate for or on account of the service of another as a public servant.

Crump, accompanied by defense lawyer Peter Till, was in Superior Court, Morristown, on Wednesday. Till said his client has applied for admission into the county’s Pre-Trial Intervention program for first-time offenders. A hearing was adjourned Wednesday, and Crump -- who declined comment -- is due back in court on Aug. 12.

Under PTI, criminal charges against a defendant are dismissed if he or she successfully fulfills a period of supervision and other conditions.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.