Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Chief David Irizarry of the Metuchen Police Department said today that an Iselin man has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of two minor children who were under his care.
Police say Mr. Karl Lancaster, 48, of the Iselin section of Woodbridge was arrested today and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree, and two counts of aggravated assault in the third degree.
When the crimes occurred, Lancaster was employed by Youth Consultation Services at the Laurie Haven Home located in Edison as a Resident Counselor and was responsible for the care of the victims, who were in the custody of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
Lancaster was charged during an investigation by Detective Joseph Keane of the Metuchen Police Department and Detective Paul Kelley of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police say on April 14, the Metuchen Police were alerted to an incident that occurred at the Metuchen YMCA on January 22, 2019.
Thereafter, an investigation began wherein the police determined that on January 22, 2019, the defendant took three male youths to the Metuchen YMCA for recreation time.
There he physically assaulted two of the children who were under his care.
Lancaster’s employment had since been terminated.
He is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick pending his initial court appearance.
The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Joseph Keane at (732) 632-8500 ext. 8501 or Detective Paul Kelley at (732) 745-4499.
As is the case with all criminal defendants, the charges against Lancaster are merely accusations and he is presumed innoc