Group Of Teens Assaulted Boy, 13, At Park In Brick, Dad Alleges

BRICK, NJ — Authorities are investigating a father's claim that his son was assaulted by a group of teens at Lake Riviera Park in Brick, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office confirmed Friday.

The 13-year-old boy was fishing at Lake Riviera Park about 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14, when the incident happened, the boy's father said in a phone interview with Patch. He said one of the teens is the child of a former Brick Township police officer, and said the attack followed repeated incidents of bullying of his son by the same kids during the 2022-23 school year.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer on Friday morning said he was aware of the accusations.

"I’ve been in contact with Brick Superintendent Dr. Thomas Farrell and Brick Chief of Police David Forrester regarding the alleged incident at Lake Riviera Park," Billhimer said. "As I’m sure you are aware, this matter involves juveniles and all parties are legally precluded from commenting."

Patch is not identifying any of the people involved because of the nature of the alleged assault. No charges have been filed as of Friday.

The boy's father said his son came home after the attack on Sept. 14 and did not initially tell his parents what happened. On Friday, Sept. 15, at school, the boy went to see a school counselor because he was not feeling well and wanted to go home, and told the counselor what happened, the father said.

"They threatened to jump him in school if he reported it," the father said.

The counselor notified the parents, and they contacted police immediately, the father said.

He said his son gave the following details about the attack:

The boy was fishing on the dock at Lake Riviera Park and had been there for about an hour when a group of about 20 teens — some eighth graders, some high school freshmen who had been in middle school with the boy the year before — showed up at the dock.

The group blocked the dock so the boy could not leave, and two of the teens proceeded to humiliate the boy and touch him inappropriately, the father said. The dock is located down a path at the park and isn't easily visible from the main area of the park or the parking lot.

"They came up to him from behind," the father said, and started grabbing his shirt and asking if he wanted to fight one of the members of the group. The boy refused, his father said.

One teen then grabbed his son's fishing rod, yanked it out of his hands and threw it in the lake, the father said.

One teen then told the boy they would beat him up unless he did what they ordered him to do. They forced the boy to get on his knees in front of them, pulled his shirt off and "made him rub his nipples and call them 'Daddy'," the father said.

Next they pushed the boy onto his back and one of the teens rubbed his midsection against the boy as he was lying on the ground, the father said. He again was forced to call the teen "Daddy," the father said, and again threatened with being beaten up and thrown in the lake if he did not go along with what they wanted.

The father said only two of the boys physically touched his son.

"The other kids were there to watch and be the threat," the father said, along with taking video. He said video of the incident allegedly has been circulating in the community, but he has not seen it.

"I'm not sure I want to," he said.

His son received messages from other students asking about the assault. In one message the father shared with Patch, a teen says to his son "Did u get raped" and when the son replies "what," the other teen say, "I herd u got raped at the park."

The boy plays football on a local American Youth Football team, but the father said none of the kids involved in the incident are football players.

"The football students aren’t like this," he said.

The father said he wants to see justice for his son and wants to see bullying addressed in a meaningful way. He said his son was transferred to another unit after repeated bullying last school year, but ended up getting suspended for a day after hitting a kid who was harassing him, the father said.

"That girl hung herself, but nothing has changed," he said, referring to Adriana Kuch, the Central Regional student who died by suicide in February after she was attacked in school and humiliated in a video of the attack.

"What if my son came home and took his life because he felt so embarrassed?" the father said. "Things have to change."