A rabbi in Ocean County is being sued by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her when she came to him for financial help, then defamed her on a website and in fliers he posted near her children’s school.
New Jersey
Paul McCartney spotted in Metuchen: This week in Central Jersey history, Feb. 24-March 2
It was reported on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 that former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney was spotted in front of the Buttery Bake Shoppe on Main Street in Metuchen on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020 by borough resident John Manzo, who took a quick picture.
McCartney, 77, strolled around the borough. enjoying the spring-like day. He was seen taking pictures of the Metuchen’s downtown area.
Here’s a look at events that happened in Central Jersey from five, 10, 25, 50 and 100 years ago this week.
Five years ago
Feb. 25, 2020: Gov. Phil Murphy proposed a $40.9 billion budget that raised taxes on millionaires, cigarettes and guns while setting aside a record amount of money for NJ Transit ― but helped pay for that by diverting money from other accounts, moves he’d denounced as budget gimmickry.
Feb. 26: According to several reports, the book “The Good Nurse” about Charles Cullen, a former nurse who was convicted in March 2006 of 22 counts of first-degree murder and is serving eight life sentences at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, might soon be turned into a Netflix film, it was reported.
Feb. 27: It was reported PharMedium, a South Brunswick healthcare company, would close on April 20, 2020 after the federal Food and Drug Administration said it manufactured and distributed drugs intended to be sterile, such as oxytocin and morphine sulfate, that were adulterated because the drugs were made under insanitary conditions.
Feb. 29: A patient at Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel who was suspected of having the novel coronavirus was cleared after tests were performed. While test results were awaited, the patient was treated in isolation.
Feb. 29: The Rutgers Prep boys basketball team beat Watchung Hills, 71-57, winning its first Somerset County Tournament title since 1983.
March 1: In an episode called “Human Sawdust,” the show Forensic Files II, on HLN cable news channel, featured Melanie McGuire, the former Woodbridge resident convicted of killing her husband, cutting his body into pieces and discarding them inside suitcases thrown into the Chesapeake Bay.
10 years ago
Feb. 25, 2015: Gov. Chris Christie was proposing a $33.8 billion spending plan for the fiscal year starting Wednesday, July 1, 2015 that included extensive changes to public workers’ pensions and health benefits, it was reported.
Feb. 26: It was reported Robert Heary, a surgeon at Rutgers University’s teaching hospital in Newark, was its highest paid employee, earning $3.14 million.
Feb. 26: In the 2015 Greater Middlesex County girls basketball tournament final, Piscataway High School beat Monroe, 77-74, in overtime, making it Piscataway’s third straight championship.
Feb. 27: The body of missing Perth Amboy man Moises Torres, an 80-year-old with dementia and hearing loss, was found at a spot along the Middlesex Greenway behind the former Boro Hardware in Metuchen, a more than seven-mile walk.
Feb. 27: HelloFresh, a delivery service for recipe kits, opened a warehouse and storage facility at 1501B W. Blancke St. in Linden, bringing more than 100 jobs to the city, it was reported.
Feb. 28: It was reported Jared Silverstein, a senior at Hillsborough High School who participated in the Grammy in the Schools Grammy Camp, performed on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015 at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
2000
Feb. 25, 2000: Tara Cunningham, 20, was sentenced to five years in prison ― the minimum prison sentence ― for stabbing and killing her boyfriend, Christopher Jay Hayes, in their Bound Brook apartment in November 1998.
Feb. 27: A growing movement of students at Livingston College at Rutgers University had started a grassroots effort to get Rutgers University to expand its student center, it was reported.
Feb. 27: The Westfield High School boys swimming team took first and second place in the 100-yard breaststroke and added a first and third place in the 400 freestyle relay to beat Cherry Hill East, 89.5-80.5, to win the Public A state title at The College of New Jersey in Ewing.
Feb. 29: A Somerset County grand jury indicted Monique Lozada and Francisco Demoscoso, both of North Plainfield, and Manuel Carmona of Plainfield, in connection with the alleged kidnapping of Wilber A. Ramirez of North Plainfield.
Feb. 29: Katie Couric, co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show since 1991, spoke to an audience of more than 1,800 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick as part of the “Unique Lives and Experiences Women’s Lecture Series.”
Feb. 29: The body of a man was found in New Market Pond in Piscataway by a crew of township employees who were repairing the Washington Avenue bridge. The body was later identified as Zahid Saleem, 26, of North Plainfield, who had been missing since Friday, Jan. 14, 2000.
1975
Feb. 24, 1975: The New Brunswick board of education adopted a $10,710,934 budget for 1975-76. It was reported on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 1975, they would ask the city for $8,760,312 of the total amount.
Feb. 24: Rev. Thomas Quinlan, 38, a South Amboy native, was shot and killed in a first-floor hallway of St. James Parish School in Penns Grove where he was principal. It was reported on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1975 that he was acting as a decoy in an attempt to lure the gunman out of the elementary school.
Feb. 25: In the semi-finals of the 11th annual Middlesex County Coaches Basketball Tournament, Woodbridge High School beat St. Joseph’s, 56-45, at Madison High School.
Feb. 27-March 1: “Anastasia” was presented by the Wardlaw-Hartridge Dramatic Club at the Wardlaw Country Day School campus in Edison.
Feb. 28: According to information released by the state Department of Labor and Industry, unemployment in Middlesex County rose by 1.5 percent in February 1975 to 10.3 percent.
Feb. 28: Under the guidance of second-year head coach Jerry Moore, Somerville High School set a school record for most victories in a season by beating Highland Park High, 56-53, in a basketball game.
1925
Feb. 24, 1925: Raymond H. Morris of New Brunswick was given a term of six months in the Hudson County penitentiary in the United States District Court after he entered a plea of guilty to an indictment charging him with embezzlement. He was taken to the penitentiary to begin his sentence.
Feb. 25-26: The movie “Love’s Wilderness,” starring Corinne Griffith, was shown at Reade’s Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.
Feb. 27: In boys basketball, South River defeated Belleville High, 25-23.
Feb. 28: Plainfield experienced some sensations of an earthquake at about 9:30 p.m., the first of such an experience in the past 40 years, or since the more severe shock of 1885.
March 2: After taking a drink of orangeade at a Perth Amboy store, Anton Berlando, 4, of Carteret, became ill immediately and died before medical aid could be secured..
Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com
New Jersey
NJ rabbi faces lawsuit for sexual assault after giving financial aid | The Jerusalem Post
Avraham Appel, of Jackson, abused his position as a trusted community leader to sexually assault and exploit the woman, an Israeli immigrant who came to him as a single mother struggling to pay bills, according to the lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of Ocean County.
Appel is a prominent rabbi and Rosh Kollel, or head of a Jewish institute for advanced Talmudic study, who is based in Lakewood and Jackson, according to court papers filed January 5.
Appel did not respond to calls to his home and cellphone seeking comment on the lawsuit.
The woman claims she confided in one of her children’s schoolteachers in early 2020 that she was in significant financial distress and having trouble paying for daycare.
The teacher suggested she contact Appel, according to the suit.
In February 2020, Appel arranged to meet with the woman at a local Starbucks.
“During that meeting, Appel presented himself to (the woman) as a rabbi, mentor, advisor, and friend whom (the woman) could trust, confide in, and depend on,” the lawsuit states.
Appel, who had experience in real estate, allegedly offered the woman an opportunity to solicit investments on his behalf and to “draw,” or advance, money against future commissions.
Rabbi issues payments to woman after alleged sexual assault
In June and July 2022, Appel issued six payments to the woman, totaling $20,000 and characterized as advances or loans. He also provided the woman with “financial assistance” so she could buy groceries and pay medical expenses and water bills, according to the suit.
The lawsuit claims most of the money was meant to buy the woman’s silence after he attacked her on June 1, 2022.
The suit alleges Appel visited the woman while she was alone at home and sexually assaulted her as she pleaded for him to stop.
“Appel was abusive and unrelenting. The more (the woman) pled for mercy, the more aggressive Appel became,” the suit alleges.
Before leaving her home, he allegedly ordered her to delete Ring camera footage that showed him arriving.
In the months after the assault, Appel “forced himself upon” the woman and took sexual advantage of her on other occasions, the suit claims.
Appel also allegedly bombarded the woman with demands for sexual acts and sent her a barrage of text and WhatsApp messages containing crude and graphic sexual content.
“I want to squeeze your breasts,” one text allegedly said. In another, he sent the woman a photo of his penis, the suit alleges.
In July 2024, the woman met with another rabbi and shared evidence of the sexual assault and “other incidents involving Appel,” the suit claims.
Woman offered $50,000 for therapy after sexual assault
Appel later contacted his attorney and the two offered the woman $50,000 to cover her future therapy expenses.
The money would be available only if the woman signed a release of any claims related to the assault and agreed to keep all incidents between them confidential, according to the suit.
The woman refused to accept the money or sign the agreement, the suit says.
Appel then launched a campaign to destroy the woman “personally and professionally,” according to the lawsuit.
On December 15, 2025, the woman became aware of a website with her photos that claimed she was “a danger to all Jews,” and warned the public to stay away from her, according to the complaint.
The website disclosed the woman’s address, claimed she stole money, and characterized her as a “thief.”
Moreover, Appel and possibly others posted signs smearing the woman. The signs were posted at public locations throughout the community, including the school her two children attended, the suit alleges.
The lawsuit claims sexual assault, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and conspiracy.
The complaint also alleges Appel breached his duty as a rabbi to conduct himself with loyalty and in good faith.
A shooting investigation in Camden County has prompted a large police response, according to a source.
Léelo en español aquí
The shooting unfolded in the area of Locust Court in Winslow Township in the evening of June 17.
SkyForce10 was over the scene of what looked like a residential complex as several police cars were visible lining the streets.
Police tape appeared to be blocking off the area as officers looked at a sedan that appeared to have crashed into another car.
No word yet on what led to the shooting or if anyone was hurt.
A New Jersey man pleaded guilty in connection to a car accident that killed a woman and a girl in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, last July.
Raul Luna-Perez, 43, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of assault by auto and aggravated manslaughter, on Monday, June 15, 2026, prosecutors said.
He is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 28, 2026.
According to Ocean County officials, on July 26, 2025, officers from Lakewood Township responded to a car crash with multiple injuries at the intersection of Cross Street and Hearthstone Drive.
In the investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Lakewood Township Police, and Ocean County Sherrif’s department, it was revealed that a Dodge Durango operated by Luna-Perez, also holding a passenger, crossed into an oncoming lane of traffic and collided head-on with a Nissan Sentra.
Maria Pleitez, 42, and two 11-year-old girls were inside the Nissan Sentra at the time.
Pleitez was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. One of the 11-year-old girls was transported to Monmouth Medical Center South Campus where she died from her injuries. The second 11-year-old girl was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) where she was treated for her injuries and eventually released.
The passenger in Luna-Perez’s Dodge Durango received minor injuries as a result of the crash, and was treated at JSUMC.
According to police, first responders at the scene detected that Luna-Perez was showing signs of impairment. He was transported to JSUMC, where his blood was drawn. The results of the blood test included a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.19 and traces of cocaine.
In New Jersey, operators of cars are presumed to be over the legal limit for alcohol consumption when their Blood Alcohol Content is 0.08 or greater. As a result of the blood test of Luna-Perez, his charges were upgraded to two counts of aggravated manslaughter and strict liability vehicular manslaughter on Aug. 7, 2025, investigators reveal.
That same day, Luna-Perez was taken into custody at an ICE detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, though he was transported to Ocean County Jail by detectives and has been detained there since.
Subsequently in the investigation, it was revealed that Luna-Perez was accelerating at approximately 60 miles-per-hour at the time of the crash and crossed the yellow line.
According to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the State of New Jersey will be seeking two 10-year terms for each aggravated manslaughter charge of Luna-Perez, and an 18-month sentence for his assault by auto offense. The aggravated manslaughter sentences will run consecutively, while the assault by auto sentence will run concurrently.
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