Walling back in jail due to probation issues
BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — Richard Walling, the former township resident and official, has again been jailed on charges he violated probation related to a 2005 third-degree theft charge.

The one-time township councilman and land use board member, also a noted local historian and school teacher, was brought to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick July 7. He was sentenced to serve 364 days, according to Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Brian Gillet.

The charges arose after Walling failed to appear, moved out of New Jersey and failed to maintain employment, Gillet said. Walling had moved from East Brunswick to Somerville in recent years, but most recently resided in Warrensburg, N.Y.

Walling was charged in 2005 with stealing $32,500 from the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield, a Manalapan-based organization

he headed up for nearly 10 years. He pleaded guilty to the theft charge after prosecutors offered a plea deal that would do away with the third-degree forgery charge he incurred by allegedly signing the organization treasurer's name to checks.

The thousands of dollars in donations meant to help the historic Revolutionary War property, located in Manalapan and Freehold Township, went to paying a variety of Walling's bills. At the time of his trial, Walling told the judge that his mental state had been adversely affected by sexual harassment charges filed against him by a former teenage student of his in 2004, and the negative attention they garnered.

Walling taught history at the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School, East Brunswick. He gave up his teaching license when he pleaded guilty in 2004 to a charge of harassment. Despite his plea, Walling said that the charges were "baseless."

Walling received a fine in that matter, and agreed to undergo a psychological evaluation.

After being found guilty of the theft in 2005, Walling was required to pay a total of $32,670, and received a five-year probation sentence.

Walling was jailed for violating his probation in 2006, when he was charged with failure to report and failure to provide change of address information to authorities. He served 50 days in jail.

According to Gillet, Walling will likely serve about six months of his jail sentence this time, due to the two months' credit he has accrued from his previous time in the detention center. At the time of his release, his probation will be terminated.

Aside from negative attention gleaned from his arrests, Walling has become a familiar figure to some throughout portions of the county for other reasons. His late mother, former East Brunswick Mayor Jean Walling, was honored with being the namesake of the municipal complex.

Along with his two years of service on the East Brunswick Township Council during the 1980s, Walling also served on the town's planning and zoning boards. Around the time of the harassment case, Walling was in litigation to fight developers proposing large-scale housing construction.

Most recently, Walling was involved in the fight against Monroe Township's efforts to build a new high school in Thompson Park. Asserting that the high school site was the former home of the Leni Lenape Bethel Mission Settlement, Walling attempted to thwart the project, through historic preservation efforts and other means.

Walling filed a lawsuit late last year, alleging misconduct on the part of state and local officials. Among other claims, the suit stated that officials violated Walling's constitutional rights. He later dropped the suit.