Crime & Safety

Paulsboro Couple Denied Motion to Dismiss Bias Case

There is enough grand jury evidence that Douglas M. Scheuerer and Donna Ricotta-Scheuerer demonstrated a history of harassing behavior, said a judge.

A Paulsboro man and wife who were charged with bias intimidation against the family of an autistic child appealed unsuccessfully in persuading a judge to dismiss their indictment last week.

Defense attorney Robert Agre argued that 46-year-old Douglas M. Scheuerer and his 50-year-old wife, Donna Ricotta-Scheuerer, were indicted last June by a jury that "wasn’t correctly instructed" on the court's treatment of bias crime, according to a statement from the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

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But senior assistant prosecutor Audrey Curwin argued that the grand jury record of the Scheuerer case demonstrated an eight-month history of harassing behavior. As such, she said, Agre's argument that the indictment hinged on an unfounded, individual "perception" of bias was insufficient.

Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. agreed that the grand jury transcript “proves some elements” of the crime that a trial jury could use to find guilt, the statement noted; he denied the motion to dismiss as a result.

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One of the central elements of the case is a report that the Scheuerers, who live across the street from the alleged victims, modified a "SLOW - CHILDREN AT PLAY" sign to read "SLOW, HEALTHY, NORMAL CHILDREN AT PLAY," and then stuck it on their front lawn, according to the Gloucester County Times.

It's not the first act of which Douglas Scheuerer has been accused that's less than neighborly, either.

In 2011, he was indicted for allegedly hiring Pedro L. Bonet of Camden to set fire to a neighbor’s Chevrolet Silverado as well as for threatening a witness to withhold information from investigators about the arson.


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