Police officer found guilty of sexual assault Old Bridge man assaulted stepson over three years, from when boy was 14 BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer After two full days of deliberation, a jury has found Douglas Karlson, a veteran Woodbridge police officer, guilty of sexually assaulting his stepson, 26, beginning when the boy was 14 years old. The assault took place over a three-year period. “He [Karlson] can face a maximum of 20 years for these charges,” Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Christie Bevacqua said. A jury of nine women and three men deliberated two full days, approximately 10 hours, after the two-day retrial before state Superior Court Judge Frederick DeVesa. The jury announced their verdict a half-hour into their third day of deliberation at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 8. Karlson, 47, an 18-year member of the Woodbridge Police Department and an Old Bridge resident, appeared stoic throughout the trial, deliberations and as the jury read the verdict. Karlson’s wife of 18 years, Donna Karlson, who is a Middlesex County sheriff’s officer, also appeared stoic throughout. The suspended officer was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault in the second degree on his stepson between June 26, 1994, and June 25, 1996. The case was tried in conjunction with another case in which Karlson was charged with taking suggestive photographs of a 15-year-old girl in the Colonia section of Woodbridge between Oct. 1, 2004, and May 10, 2005. Karlson was convicted in that case and found guilty of official misconduct and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, in July of this year. During the two-day retrial, the 26-year-old victim, who kept his secret of being sexually abused quiet for years, told the jury that he heard about the investigation of his stepfather, who had been arrested and charged with taking photographs of a 15-year-old girl in Colonia, and then read it in the newspapers. The victim, who testified he didn’t come forward earlier because he thought no one would believe him since Karlson was a Woodbridge police officer, said he confided in some friends and they told him that he needed to do something. Then the victim went to Woodbridge Police Lt. Dennis Gorman, who was a sergeant at the time. He described Gorman as “like an uncle to me” and also a close friend to his stepfather. Gorman referred him to Investigator Rajesh Chopra of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office on June 2, 2005. On June 3, 2005, the victim stated to Chopra that he was sexually abused by Karlson at his stepfather’s residence in Old Bridge about every two months between June 26, 1994, and June 25, 1996. Both Karlson and his wife, Donna, testified at both trials denying the boy’s account that Karlson sexually assaulted him. “He has a deep-seated hatred of me,” Karlson said in response to his attorney Thomas Buck’s question on why he thought his stepson would make such accusations. “He would never accept me as a father figure or as the father of the house,” Karlson said. “He never accepted the work ethic that I tried to instill in him. He wanted to go back to his natural dad.” Karlson denied ever molesting the boy and described his stepson as “incorrigible and out of control” in his youth. The boy is Karlson’s stepson and the biological son of Donna Karlson. Karlson testified that he had to throw his stepson out of the house in response to his unacceptable behavior at one point. “We cut him off financially and emotionally, and used tough love, and that was something he was not used to,” Karlson said. Donna defended her husband and called him a “fantastic” father who treated her children as if they were his own and denied that her husband ever beat her son. In July, Karlson admitted taking pictures of the 15-year-old girl, who is the daughter of Ann Marie Dobbs, 48, who Karlson first met as a police officer when he responded to a call. Karlson has admitted that he had an affair with Dobbs and said they were “intimate a few times.” Karlson also admitted to taking partially nude photographs of the girl, but said that he did so with the girl’s and her mother’s permission. “I don’t feel that I did anything wrong,” Karlson said. “The pictures are what they are. They made her feel good about herself. They wanted more pictures taken.” Bevacqua had asked Karlson if he liked taking pictures of nude people. “Not necessarily,” Karlson said. “I like to take photos. Given the right situation with adults, yes.” Bevacqua had asked Karlson to thumb through several hundred photographs of the girl during the first trial. Karlson confirmed he had taken them all. Bevacqua also showed a number of the girl’s pictures on a projector screen at the front of the courtroom. In most of the slides, the girl was minimally dressed. In one set, she was wearing lingerie. Karlson said that Mrs. Dobbs was present during all of the photo sessions. Earlier this year, Dobbs pleaded guilty before Judge DeVesa to a charge of endangering the welfare of a child for her part in photographing the girl. She will be sentenced following the conclusion of Karlson’s trial. Judge Devesa has revoked Karlson’s $250,000 bail with no 10 percent option since his conviction in July and he is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick. Karlson will be sentenced on both convictions at 9 a.m. on Feb. 23 at the Middlesex County Courthouse. He faces 10 to 30 years in prison on both convictions. Thomas Buck, the suspended officer’s Milltown-based defense attorney, has said that the reason the boy, now 26 years old, came forward was to exact “revenge” against Karlson. He said he plans to appeal the conviction of the retrial. Deputy Police Chief Philip DiNicola said Karlson is still a member of the Woodbridge Police Department. “He is suspended without pay pending the sentencing by the trial judge,” he said. DiNicola said there was no reason to believe Karlson had engaged in any kind of illegal or inappropriate behavior before the allegations came to light. “His performance was satisfactory,” DiNicola said. “There were no indications of any illegal activity by the officer.”