GLOUCESTER CITY ,NJ (November 2023)(CNBNews)—William E. Cleary Sr., editor of CNBNews appeared in Gloucester City Municipal Court on Tuesday, November 2023 to answer two trespassing charges for walking around the Cold Springs Elementary School, located at Cold Springs Drive and Market Street, and one theft charge. Cleary took a children’s bench that he thought was trash as it was lying on the asphalt behind the school with other trash next to a trash dumpster. When he learned it wasn’t trash, he contacted the police, returned the bench to the school, and placed it in the same trash pile from which he got it.
At the November 21 hearing he was given two choices: plead guilty or take the matter to trial. He was told by his attorney Justin Moore, whose law office is in Collingswood, he should be prepared to pay heavy fines if he plead guilty. The penalty varies based on the value of the goods. The value of the bench was set at $500. The penalty for a third-degree felony is 3 to 5 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $10,000.
Since October 10, a video of him and his son, who was also charged, has appeared on the Gloucester City Police Department’s Facebook page. The video came from a Cold Springs School security camera. A neighbor alerted me about the video about an hour after the police published it on October 10. Cleary notified the police that he mistakenly took the bench and apologized for wasting their time, but the video remains on Facebook page.
source of information State statute N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3
For 56 years, the 79 year-old Cleary has been providing the residents of Gloucester City and surrounding areas with the latest news.
Cleary said, “During my long career some individuals and organizations have objected to my investigative reporting for various reasons. The groups that I have written about include the Philadelphia Mob, Pagan MC, the Klu Klux Klan, Skinheads, Teamsters, Longshoremen, and Politicians from both sides of the aisle. Most recently I have written about a Gloucester City fireman who set fire to another fireman’s pants as a practical joke. And, the Gloucester City police department who has the third highest salary among police officers in Camden County.
“In 2013, I had every intention of retiring at the end of that year, I had been working for over four decades. But in February 2014, my son-in-law was attacked by a man who hit him numerous times in his head and body with a claw hammer outside a Deli in Philadelphia. He nearly died. We were away when it happened. When I learned that the mainstream media were not covering the story, I forgot all about retirement. The public needed to know about this terrible attack, and if the mainstream media were ignoring what happened, then I would tell the story. I am glad I didn’t retire.”
”Cleary decided to take his case to trial. The case was scheduled for December 12 but last Friday, that date was postponed by the court. The new date is Tuesday, December 19, at 10:30 AM at the Police Administration building, 313 Monmouth Street.