Thomas G. Aljian Jr., 55, of the Manahawkin section of Stafford is charged with child endangerment and sexual assault after police found him with a 15-year-old boy around 4 a.m. in a car parked next to a used condom.
A partner in the law firm of Aljian & Montgomery, he is also an environmental engineer who was the unsuccessful GOP mayoral candidate in 2009 in Aberdeen Township.
Aljian was one of four Republican candidates nominated in 2007, but he finished seventh as Democrats won all seats on the Aberdeen Township Council. Aljian also ran unsuccessfully for Aberdeen Township Council in the 2005 Republican primary.
A 2007 news report said he was married with two young daughters and had lived in Aberdeen for over 10 years, which was probably sufficient evidence of his family values before he was caught having sex with a 15-year-old boy.
The three time GOP candidate previously worked as the director of Solid Waste Management for Somerset County. Before moving to Aberdeen, Aljian was politically active in his former town of Watchung. There he served on the Middlebrook Regional Health Commission, an interlocal services committee that included six towns.
Aljian’s college and law school education includes Rutgers University, B.S., Environmental Science, 1989; New Jersey Institute of Technology, M.S., Candidate Environmental Engineering, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, J.D., 1998.
A statement released by the Brigantine Police Department explained how the Republican lawyer got caught.
On June 10, 2023, at approximately 4 a.m., Brigantine Police Officer Nicholas Crosson was performing a property check at the Brigantine Observation Tower when he encountered a vehicle parked in the darkness behind the observation tower, accordig to the statement.
Crosson observed suspicious activity inside of the vehicle and approached to investigate further, encountering two occupants of the vehicle.
While patrol officers were investigating, one of the occupants fled on foot and was pursued by police. He was apprehended in the area of the Brigantine Sea Wall and taken into custody. He would not provide a correct name or age.
At that time, the second occupant of the vehicle (a 55-year-old male) was identified and sent on his way. He was also identified as the registered owner of the vehicle.
Once officers were back at the station, they identified the male that they apprehended and determined that he was a juvenile under the age of 16. Based upon Officer Crosson’s initial observations of the occupants of the vehicle, Brigantine detectives were called in to conduct an investigation.
An investigation by Detective James Powderley also found that the teen and Aljian had engaged in sexual acts just before Crosson encountered them.
Subsequent to the investigation an arrest warrant was issued for Thomas G. Aljian, Jr (55) of Manahawkin, charging him with 2nd Degree Sexual Assault of a person who is at least 13 years old but less than 16 years old. He was also charged with 3rd Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The defendant surrendered to police on June 13, 2023 and has been lodged in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
Anyone with additional information regarding this incident is asked to contact Det. Powderley at (609) 266-7600 ext. 270 or at jpowderley@brigantinebeachnj.com.
The Brigantine Police Department said these charges are merely an accusation and not proof of guilt. In all criminal cases, a charged defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.