I think after there is a trial that conclusively proves guilt, child molesters such as this guy should be executed on the spot. Why should we waste any further societal resources on such people?

A new complaint released to the Jersey Journal today lists an additional four victims.

Within the last year, Mercado allegedly abused a 11-year-old boy in Hoboken while being employed as a teacher, the complaint stated.

More sex abuse charges emerge against Jersey City youth baseball coach

By Jonathan Lin/The Jersey Journal
on June 05, 2014 at 4:16 PM, updated June 05, 2014 at 7:00 PM

John Mercado, the longtime Jersey City youth sports coach and teacher who last week was accused of sexually abusing multiple boys over the past three decades, has now been charged with abusing a total of nine boys.

Mercado, 54, of Kennedy Boulevard, who appeared in Central Judicial Processing in Jersey City today on new sex abuse charges, was charged on May 23 with multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault by contact, aggravated criminal sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse, Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Debra Simon said.

The criminal complaint filed against Mercado the first time he appeared in CJP on May 27 listed five victims. A new complaint released to the Jersey Journal today lists an additional four victims.

Within the last year, Mercado allegedly abused a 11-year-old boy in Hoboken while being employed as a teacher, the complaint stated.

The boy gave a statement to police stating that Mercado touched him in a sexual manner on multiple occasions while driving him home after basketball practice, the complaint stated.

School officials at the Elysian Charter School in Hoboken suspended Mercado from his administrative assistant and athletic director positions there last week. Mercado also formerly worked at the now-closed St. Anne?s School in the Jersey City Heights and Hoboken Catholic Academy.

According to the initial criminal complaint filed against Mercado, between 1982 and 1986, Mercado repeatedly performed sex acts on two of his victims, who were between 8 and 12 years old and students of his at the time in Jersey City.

According to the new complaint, Mercado performed similar acts on three other victims over the last three decades in Jersey City.

One of the victims, now 23, suffered abuse between the ages of 10 and 18. Another victim, now 39, suffered abuse between the ages of 8 and 12. A third victim, now 31, suffered abused between the ages of 8 and 13.

Up to now, Mercado has confessed to abusing at least five of the boys listed in the two criminal complaints filed against him.

Last week, Mercado's bail was set at $300,000, cash or bond.

Today, his bail on the new charges was set at $300,000 for each of his alleged victims, according to the chambers of Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez. A condition of his bail is no contact with children under 18 and no involvement in youth activities.

Anyone with additional information regarding Mercado is urged to call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office at 201-915-1234.

LINK

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Perhaps Mao can call up some buddies at the HC Prosecutors office to stop Catholic bashing, given there's enough of it on this thread already.

I hope that he is raped by several prisoners just like this guy.


http://www.unboredable.com/child-rapist-gets-raped-20-men/

The Archdiocese of Newark is pledging to cooperate fully with the Hudson County Prosecutor?s Office investigation of John Mercado, the longtime Jersey City youth sports coach and teacher charged with molesting seven boys over the past three decades.

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What do you mean? There is nothing "unimaginable" about adults abusing their positions of authority, power, and influence of young people - it happens all the time.

What are we (regardless of whether we have children of our own, we are uncles, college friends of their parents, volunteers, etc.) missing?

The worse sexual abuser of children is the mother's boyfriend. http://www.theage.com.au/comment/mums ... ldren-20140213-32n3s.html

Well the problem is that our law really has trouble dealing with a serial pedophile. The law, even for murderers, is premised on rehabilitation which is highly unlikely if not impossible for pedophiles.

For about ten years, I represented the state in commitment hearings, both in initial hearings and in recommitment. The vast majority of these poor people suffered from schizophrenia. Once or twice a year, there would be a calendar generated from the long term sex offender facility. Some of the people had never been convicted of crimes but had been committed. Some had been convicted, had finished their sentences, and then were committed because they were dangerous. However, in reality, probably none of these people satisfy the very demanding requirements NJ's commitment law: "to reasonable degree of psychiatric certainty, patient x is dangerous to himself or others by reason of a mental illness in the imminent future" or something like that. Normally to uphold a commitment, you need to show that in the last two weeks the patient tried to kill himself, or another etc. It's a hard standard. If a serial sex offender has been in a facility for years and years with no access to children and with constant therapy, etc, he may well not have done anything indicating dangerousness.

Nonetheless, (you'll be happy to know) these commitments of the sex offenders were always continued. Their lawyer, someone from the Public Defender's office, never asked for a release. I also note that these patients all seemed very compromised, borderline intelligence, etc. I don't think these are comorbid which makes me wonder if the smart ones have just found away around this.

So by suggesting a desert Island, I was inspired by my knowledge that the law as written actually can't handle this problem.

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No, he should be put into a mental-health based penal system that separates him from free society for the duration of his life. A vast majority of these individuals cannot be successfully integrated back into society even with castration (which is a whole misunderstood treatment modality that is not a one-stop solution for offenders.) I don't believe in second chances for the men and women that prey on children - period.

Who suspected in this specific case? Someone did. Someone knew. Someone said something or saw something and didn't speak up. They enable predators and live in a level of denial that allows for the destruction of another's soul.

You won't hear much about this case for now because the prosecutor will be peeling back his evil onion of deeds. Watch for additional prosecutions in the near future.

How it is Connected - How it Unravels

(While the above case is not connected to this one (as far as I know), my point is to show how prosecutors use the data on pedophile's computers to connect the dots to connect to a full network of perpetrators that yield an astonishing number of additional arrests.)

also, News 12 reported that the victims were as young as eight years old.

Dear Jersey Mom:

Thanks for pointing out that "Mercado had confessed to abusing at least four of the boys." That pretty much settles it. Best for him to go to a deserted Island for the rest of his life. If he had managed to stop after the early 80s, that would be highly unusual.

I don't take issue with the fact that sexual abuse of minors is devastating and horrific. If I gave that impression, thanks for the correction. A child or youth who is victimized in that fashion will have psychological and developmental issues that will follow him or her to the grave which may be premature because of the burden and which will interfere with every aspect of his or her life- particularly the most important, that is in the intimate relationships of marriage and family.

Do you have any inkling that there was anyone at Elysian who had a basis to suspect? Or were you just speculating based on my description of the school?

Yours,

Mao

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Unless of course the perp admits to committing the crimes, which he did, with at least three boys. There are more victims, that's for certain. Likely investigators will find more evidence on his computer as well - and that will add new dimensions to this case and new convictions of the disgusting individuals that perpetrate these acts. They have a herd mentality - they feed off each other's psychological need to hunt down and conquer their young victims. The advent of internet pedophilia has created an incredible marketplace to feed their hunger.

And like many other cases out there - someone did know - or suspected - and didn't say a word - just because of the very "culture" bred in the school that you described. It's too uncomfortable to imagine, right?

I have seen first hand the victims of these crimes - their lives, their innocence stripped away. They are never the same - some turn to drugs and alcohol. Some become promiscuous. Some become predators themselves.

It is everywhere. This isn't hysterics - this is reality. And if you don't think your kids are at risk, watch this video:

http://vimeo.com/86895084

LOL, the use of this to Catholic bash. As a Catholic I am more disgusted and outraged by the betrayal of the bishops and priests as evidenced in the abuse of adolescent boys by homosexual priests, and by the betrayal of the Faith in so many other ways as well. However, it has nothing to do with this case and, in fact, the abuse that goes on in non Catholic settings is even worse than in Catholic settings if you can believe it. Google Canadian Junior hockey, or look into the problem in youth swim clubs. Public schools are rife with it. Penn State and the BBC were virtual procurers of it. Btw, Pope Francis' "who am I to judge" was made when people were outraged that he has a known abuser of under age adolescent males at his side at all times and made him (Monsignor Ricca) head of the Vatican Bank. (not to bring this back to Catholic bashing but to illustrate the strange way in which Catholic bashing only targets the orthodox and traditional Catholics while it mostly, not exclusively, a fruit of the Left in the Church, though everywhere a fruit of apostasy).

I just don't know why people are so shocked. Our civilization rejects the reality of the Fall, is sex obsessed, rejects the idea that morality informs sex other than that it be non predatory). Restraint, chastity, concupiscence, etc are alien concepts. I think a lot of it has to do with a misapplication of Freud's theory of sexuality where desire is considered, per se, to be paramount and due satisfaction while repression is, per se, to be discounted. (Freud actually understood very well the role of repression and restraint as part of the process of maturation). If this turns out to be pedophilia, where the victims are prepubescent, as I understand it there will likely be scores of victims and cure or reform is nearly impossible.

Anyway, in this case, the accused was working at a public school and has been for about 15 years. Elysian is the antithesis of a parochial school being public, progressive in nature with a large proportion of highly cultured Jewish parents and students where parental involvement was very high. I know him and the school fairly well since my sons went there. I often found the school too liberal and progressive and unstructured and with inadequate boundaries between faculty and students (it drove me nuts that everyone was on a first name basis). That being said, there were and are many excellent things about the community. In many ways, it is a caring community and there are many dedicated teachers there. When my kids were there, I made these criticisms known despite there being a sort of politically correct atmosphere that stymied conversation. Nonetheless, the school on balance is a good place given the alternatives. Mr. Mercado, himself, seemed like a dedicated regular guy. Good sense of humor, good balance between encouraging competition but also fair play (though my younger son quite basketball because he yelled too much). But really, he would be about the very last person one would think to be a sexual predator. That, upon reflection, is the most disturbing thing about this.

To those who say anyone involved with kids is suspect, there has to be another way to approach this. Kids need male role models so desperately. I can think of one kid. His family had broken up when he was in kindergarten and left town. The boy was a natural basketball phenom. He spent so much time under Mercado's tutelage. This must be so painful and disorienting to him.

But the good guys can't be driven away because some morally corrupt men (and women too-lots of wowmen, especially in public schools) use these important roles to access victims. It has to make the rest of us step up to the plate more not less.

John Mercado was everywhere at the school. A pony tailed scruffy Puerto Rican guy, he ran the school office (which was a shambles), did high school guidance (which seemed to be done very well), single handedly created an athletic program (which was really good at the school), chaperoned overnight trips (lets hope his alleged crimes which were reportedly in the early 1980s did not continue!!), and, horrible dictu, taught sex ed to the boys which almost certainly contained little about the need for repression and restraint (which from my perspective as a Christian should not exist in any public school and which the school despite my repeated requests failed to tell me what its content was and provide an opportunity to opt out).

The school sometimes would be unorthodox. However, I assume, however, that they did the normal background checks. Mr. Mercado, like most offenders, would have come up clean since he has no record. I would be shocked if there had ever been evidence of misconduct that was ignored by the administration, parents, or other teachers.

Remember too, that as reported, the alleged crimes date from the early 1980s- that is 30 years ago. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is always difficult. Also, the so called recovered memory syndrome is a real issue. Never forget the Kelly Michaels case, a woman who was vilified and wrongly imprisoned based on "memories of abuse" that were found to have been implanted by investigators. There have been cases like this all over the country. So we do need to remember that he is innocent until proven guilty.

Finally, the accused has a wife and children. They live in Jersey City. While sometimes, the wife is complicit (e.g. Mrs. Sandusky), almost always those closest have no inkling. Thus, the shock and pain they are feeling must be overwhelming. Hysterical reactions won't help these innocents who are also victims. Pray to God and His Mother for everyone involved in this mess.

Unfortunately background checks rely on someone actually being caught first. As a parent these stories horrify me, but I'm not going to jump to a conclusion that someone was negligent. People do horrible things and sometimes they are difficult to spot.

At the end of the day, what most places are doing now is requiring that two adults always be present when working with kids. This seems like the best policy, but nothing is perfect.

I hope the children get some sense of justice and a bit of healing.

The suggestion the Catholic church sets the standard or has any moral authority on this topic is pretty repugnant to most.

http://news.uk.msn.com/pope-asks-forg ... of-child-abuse-by-priests
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I know for a fact, teachers, school lunch aides and volunteer are check. It is a requirement. This requirement was voted on by US Catholic Bishops in 2002. The point I am making, I cannot believe the public schools would do less.

"Two victims gave statements to the police, while three other boys were mentioned in the criminal complaint against Mercado. Between 1982 and 1986, Mercado repeatedly performed sex acts on two victims, who were between 8 and 12 years old and students of his at the time."

The system has failed somewhere, and as for the Catholic School checks, please don't go there with their history and ongoing investigations throughout the world - They had a history of cover-ups, ignoring or transferring staff ... it wouldn't surprise me if an internal network and practices still exists in the church

He coached for Saint Aloysius High School baseball in the 90s , Lincoln Park.

I believe this is the law, you must have a background check even to volunteer in a Catholic school, I doubt if public or charter are any different.

Any coach, educator, crossing supervisor, bus driver, be it as a volunteer or paid should be checked by police to be allowed to work with children - They should all have a police check as part of their employment condition that is checked yearly.

This should be mandated by law

There is an absolute sickness in this area with the number of adults attacking our children. It's the most heinous thing I can ever imagine - stealing a child's innocence in such a vile way.

Below is the updated story - apparently he's at Elysian but hasn't been in Jersey City in a while:




A long-time Jersey City youth baseball coach has been charged with molesting seven boys over the past three decades, authorities said today.

John Mercado, 52, of Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City, was charged Friday with multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault by contact, aggravated criminal sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse, Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Debra Simon said.

Simon said that Mercado molested the boys while working at various local schools and as a youth sports coach.

Mercado appeared at Central Judicial Processing today, where Judge Margaret Marley said Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez had ordered him not to attend any youth activities and to have no contact with anyone under 18.

A recreation coach familiar with Mercado said that among the leagues Mercado coached were the Pershing Field Babe Ruth and in the Jersey City Cobra program. Mercado also ran summer baseball camps. The coach, who did not want to be named, said he doesn't believe Mercado has been involved in Jersey City for the past few years.

Pershing Field Babe Ruth President Joe Napolitano said it has been at least 15 years since Mercado coached for the league.

Simon would not release the names of the schools Mercado worked at or any other information concerning the case.

"We are not releasing any other information at this time," said Simon. "Whether or not that information is forthcoming is yet to be seen. The investigation is ongoing."

According to his profile on LinkedIn.com, Mercado is an administrative assistant and athletic director at Elysian Charter School in Hoboken, where he also coaches track and basketball. His profile says he was a computer teacher at Hoboken Catholic Academy from 1998 to 2004.

"The news that has come out today about a member of our Elysian community is truly shocking and disturbing," Elysian Director Harry Laub said in a statement, adding that the school will hold a meeting for our parents tonight in the Rue Gymnasium at 6:30 p.m.

"The entire Elysian staff will be working sensitively with the children and we have counselors available to talk with the children and answer any questions as needed, Laub said. "We ask the Hoboken community to please support our students, staff and families while we recover from this very difficult situation."

Laub told The Jersey Journal that Mercado will be suspended without pay.

Two victims gave statements to the police, while three other boys were mentioned in the criminal complaint against Mercado. Between 1982 and 1986, Mercado repeatedly performed sex acts on two victims, who were between 8 and 12 years old and students of his at the time.

Mercado confessed to abusing at least four of the boys, according to the criminal complaint.

Mercado's bail was set at $300,000. Anyone is with information is urged to call the Prosecutor's Office at 201-915-1234.

Journal staff writer Jonathan Lin contributed to this report.

Link to Updated Jersey Journal Story

Kill him with fire.

He worked as a coach at Elysian Charter in Hoboken a few years ago, not sure if more recently.

By Patrick McGovern

A long-time Jersey City youth baseball coach has been charged with molesting seven boys over the past three decades, authorities said today.

John Mercado, 52, of Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City, was charged Friday with multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault by contact, aggravated criminal sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse, Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Debra Simon said.

Simon said that Mercado molested the boys while working at various local schools and as a youth sports coach.

A recreation coach familiar with Mercado said that among the leagues Mercado coached were the Pershing Field Babe Ruth and in the Jersey City Cobra program. Mercado also ran summer baseball camps. The coach, who did not want to be named, said he doesn't believe Mercado has been involved in Jersey City for the past few years.

Simon would not release the names of the schools Mercado worked at or any other information concerning the case.

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