East Brunswick, NEW JERSEY

Time to update those yearbooks.
We have no idea why it took three years to sentence him.

July 20, 2008 -

Richard Walling, 50, described as "former East Brunswick councilman, disgraced teacher and local historian," was sentenced to 364 days in jail - not prison - in connection with his theft of $32,500 from the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield, a volunteer group that works with the state park.

Walling, son of the late East Brunswick Mayor Jean Walling, pleaded guilty in August 2005 to theft. Walling served as the chief executive officer of the group at the time.

The 2005 guilty plea followed another case in which Walling was accused of harassing a 17-year-old female student from the East Brunswick campus of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools where he worked as a teacher. He allegedly sent 17 "sexual and annoying" text messages to her cell phone.

According to a police report, Walling admitted taking the student to a movie, buying her gifts and helping with a traffic summons by speaking to a prosecutor on her behalf.

In November 2004, Walling pleaded guilty to a downgraded disorderly conduct charge in the harassment case. He agreed to give up his teaching license and was ordered to undergo psychological evaluation. He was also fined $500.

Walling once served on the East Brunswick Township Council and Zoning Board.

ARRESTED (Again) July 31 - Walling has again been jailed on charges he violated probation related to a 2005 third-degree theft charge.

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 [Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Brian] 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

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.