Scotch Plains cop charged with stealing from PAL



Mike Deak

Prosecutor: Officer James Denman, former PAL treasurer, has already repaid money

A Scotch Plains police officer has been charged with embezzling $18,000 from the Police Athletic League.(Photo: ~File photo)
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SCOTCH PLAINS – A township police officer has been charged with taking approximately $18,000 from the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Police Athletic League (PAL) for personal use, according to acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park.
Officer James Denman, 50, was charged on Thursday with one count of third-degree misapplication of trust funds.
State records show that Denman earned $106,348 in 2013.
An investigation by the Union County Prosecutor's Office's Special Prosecutions Unit discovered that Denman, the former treasurer of the local PAL chapter, allegedly took the funds sometime in December 2013 while he was off-duty from his police work, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor John Esmerado, who is handling the case.
The funds allegedly were taken without the permission of any executive or board member of the PAL, Esmerado said.
The nonprofit PAL, founded in 1991, sponsors youth athletic programs in Scotch Plains and Fanwood to develop a friendly relationship between youth and police officers.
In April, Denman repaid all of the money into the PAL account, Esmerado said.

Denman is scheduled for a first appearance in Union County Superior Court on Dec. 15 before Presiding Judge Joan Robinson Gross.