⚠️ Englewood agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle a family’s lawsuit over an after-school program.
➡️ The family said the city hired a parks worker without a background check or formal hiring process.
🔴 The former employee faces multiple sexual assault charges and remains jailed awaiting trial.
ENGLEWOOD — This New Jersey city is eating a seven-figure settlement after its parks and rec director hired a family member who is now accused of sexual assault.
Johnathan P. Jones, 24, is charged with three counts each of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault of a victim younger than 13 years old, and second-degree child endangerment. According to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, he was arrested in Paramus in December 2023.
On July 22, a Superior Court judge in Bergen County approved a $1.6 million settlement between an Englewood family and the city that hired Jones. The city was accused of failing to protect the family’s 9-year-old daughter. The settlement was first reported by John Paff with transparencynj.com.
Family says assaults happened during Englewood after-school program
The family said in September 2023, their daughter began attending an Englewood after-school program for elementary students where Jones worked. Jones viciously sexually assaulted the girl at the program several times over the course of two months, investigators said…