NJ Police Chief, Administrator Sexually Harrassed Policewoman, Suit Says

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A Morris County police officer has accused her police chief, as well as a borough manager, of sexually harassing her while on the job.

A Mountain Lakes policewoman, Melanie Aguilar, is suing the Borough of Mountain Lakes, saying that Police Chief Shawn Bennett and Borough Manager Mitchell Stern created an “unwanted and sexual environment.”

Aguilar, who began working with the Mountain Lakes Police Department in 2022, says that both Stern and Bennett told her that they are the reason she got the position several times, according to the suit.

It wasn’t long after Aguilar started at the department that Bennett told her he “loves Latinas,” the ethnicity of the plaintiff, and that he “gets girls,” the suit reads.

In one instance, Bennett showed her explicit photos of women on his phone while on duty, according to the lawsuit.

Bennett would also comment on Aguilar’s own photos posted to her personal social media, including those of her in a bathing suit and gym wear, calling them “distracting,” among other comments, according to court documents.

Less than a year after Aguilar started her position with the department, officers were interested in participating in the Police Unity Tour, a multi-day bicycle ride in which law enforcement officers bike from New Jersey to Washington DC.

Bennett paired himself with Aguilar for the bike ride, and said that the two of them would be sharing one hotel room in Washington DC, the suit alleges.

After Bennett told her he would “set the rules” in their hotel room, she became “fearful that if she was forced to share a room with Bennett, that he might forcefully pursue sexual intercourse with her even if she was unwilling,” the suit reads.

As a result, Aguilar backed out of the race, only to learn that the tour’s rooming situations were single-sex rooms, meaning she would have shared a room with another woman, not Bennett.

The suit says she would’ve participated in the Police Unity Tour if “she was not of the belief that she would be compelled to share a hotel room with Bennett.”

In another instance, the department was training with Lifevac devices, meant to assist choking victims. When it was Aguilar’s turn to demonstrate the device, Bennett openly said it looked like she was holding a sex toy, the suit reads.

At this time, Aguilar was pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby. Bennett would say that the child was his baby in front of the department, and texted her, “penises create problems...you’re lucky you’re so much younger, or I’d fall into that category,” according to the suit.

The lawsuit says that over the course of her time with the Mountain Lakes Police Department, fellow officers would often check in on Aguilar when these comments were made. Some employees would even tell the chief to “chill” when he made the comments, the suit reads.

Borough Manager Stern, who also told Aguilar he was the reason she was hired, repeatedly told her that her “ass is fat,” according to the suit. Additionally, while she was pregnant, he said that the pregnancy made her “ass so big,” she alleges.

The suit adds that when learning Aguilar was pregnant, Stern told her that if her boyfriend hadn’t been the one to impregnate her, “he would have been the one to put babies inside of her.”

As a result of the alleged harassment, Aguilar limited her time in the precinct, staying in her squad car as much as possible to avoid interacting with the men. The suit says that Aguilar did not report their “abhorrent and misogynistic behavior” out of fear of losing her job.

“Defendants’ sexual harassment against (Aguilar) was willful, wanton, reckless, and malicious, showed a conscious disregard of the rights of (Aguilar) or constituted conduct so reckless as to amount to such disregard,” the suit reads.

Aguilar’s suit mentions claims of sexual harassment in the workplace and discrimination. She is seeking damages for having suffered “severe emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, shame and degradation, and physical manifestations of emotional distress,” as a result of the alleged harassment.

Patch has reached out to both Bennett and Stern for comment, and has not received a response. The pair is still listed as active employees on the borough’s website.