Walling will repay $32K to battlefield group
Former E.B. official gets probation as part of plea agreement
BY BRIAN DONAHUE
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — Richard Walling will have to pay $32,500 to the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield as part of his sentencing for stealing money from the nonprofit group.

The former East Brunswick official, who for 10 years served as president of the battlefield preservation group, in August pleaded guilty to theft as part of a plea agreement in which a forgery charge was dropped and a prison term avoided. At a sentencing hearing Friday, Superior Court Judge Federick DeVesa gave Walling five years probation and ordered him to make a minimum payment of $2,000 per month to the Manalapan-based organization.

Between August 2003 and February of this year, Walling took money in some cases by forging the signature of the organization’s treasurer, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. In other cases, he would transfer money from the Friends’ main account to educational program accounts such as the Road to Monmouth, which required only his signature. Walling used the money for personal expenses, in some cases paying bills to Verizon or to eye-care offices, authorities said.

The Prosecutor’s Office began investigating the matter early this year and charged him with the offenses in May.

Walling served as president of the battlefield group from 1995 until last December.

Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Brian Gillet said it is most important that the battlefield group be paid back.

“Our goal was to get the money back for the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield. Hopefully, he’ll pay the restitution, or he’ll be back in front of the judge for violation of his probation,” Gillet said.

Such a violation, he said, could result in up to five years in prison.

Walling pleaded guilty in 2004 to the harassment of a 17-year-old girl who had been a student in the history class he taught at the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School, East Brunswick. As part of his plea in that case, Walling received a fine and agreed to forfeit his teaching license.

Prior to his sentencing Friday, Walling, who could not be reached for comment for this story, reportedly told DeVesa that his actions were attributable to stress caused by frequent media reports on the accusations being made by the police and his former student.

“To be a public school teacher accused on a daily basis in the media of a heinous case that was entirely baseless, it affected my mental health, but I know that’s no excuse,” Walling was quoted as telling the judge, as reported in The Star-Ledger.

Walling has indicated he is now working to construct affordable housing in the area, which is how he’ll be able to afford the restitution payments.

Walling, whose late mother, Jean, was mayor of East Brunswick in the 1970s, has a long history of civic involvement. He formerly served as an East Brunswick township councilman and member of its Planning and Zoning boards.

Much of his involvement has also been as a historian, both in East Brunswick, where he lives on Main Street, and with the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield, which works to preserve the Revolutionary War battlefield and runs programs to educate the public about related issues.