Police arrest piano teacher on sex charge
Observation
of sexual conduct among charges
BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Police arrested and charged a 67-year-old Middletown piano teacher and convicted sex offender after he allegedly videotaped his students secretly while they were using his bathroom. And the number of victims could reach 100, Middletown Police Chief John Pollinger said.

George Johnson, of 2901 Ashford Court, was arrested and charged July 1 with wiretapping, endangering the welfare of a minor, observation of sexual contact, maintaining a nuisance and possession of a firearm by an individual not authorized to use one. He is being held at the Monmouth County jail, Freehold Township, on $240,000 bail.

Authorities found a collection of close to 1,500 videotapes from Johnson’s home, Pollinger said. Of the 353 tapes that have been reviewed so far, 44 people have been identified, ranging in age from 6 to 72. Of the 44 people, 22 are under the age of 13. There are also more than 50 other pictures of unidentified victims, Pollinger said.

"We were fearful, in the beginning, that we were going to have a considerable number of victims, and unfortunately that’s coming true," he said.

Johnson allegedly set up three hidden video cameras in a floor vent, a hollowed-out air freshener and behind molding. He also allegedly set up a microphone in his bathroom to record all movements and actions of his students, along with anyone else who may have used the bathroom since 1999, Pollinger said.

"They were small, covert cameras. These cameras led down to the basement where they were hooked up to videocassette recorders," Pollinger said.

Police also confiscated four computers, an unknown amount of DVDs and computer floppy disks, and software, Pollinger said. The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office is analyzing the items to see if any of the images were ever uploaded to Web sites or other file-sharing services.

"We believe right now that these were for his own personal use, although we’ve been investigating to determine whether or not they’ve been shared," Pollinger said.

Johnson was convicted in 1962 on one count of sexual assault, and he was con­victed in 1982 on three counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to five years probation, Pollinger said.

Although Johnson’s previous crimes did not meet the requirements necessary for him to register with police as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, police were aware that he was residing at Cam­bridge Manor, a group of townhouses off Route 35, Pollinger said.

"We’ve kept tabs on him for a long time, but unfortunately, until July 1, we had no information that we could act on," township Detective Lt. Mike Cerame said.

Johnson’s activities were uncovered by a contractor who noticed the wires and discovered the equipment July 1, Pollinger said. The person went to po­lice, who then secured and executed a search warrant on the same day.

Eight Middletown patrolmen and two investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office spent the next two days removing all of the evidence from the home, Pollinger said.

Reviewing the seized videotapes has been delegated to female police officers, Pollinger said.

"It is grueling, to say the least, and very heart-wrenching to see children on these videos," township Patrolwoman Kimberly Best-McCabe said. "It is very difficult, but it is something that has to be done."

Police also found videotape record­ings at Disney World, Orlando, Fla., and at other theme parks, Cerame said.

Susan Colonna, a Cambridge Manor resident, said she always thought some­thing abnormal was going on at John­son’s residence.

"I think many people had an uncom­fortable feeling about him [Johnson]," Colonna said. "Nobody ever knew any­thing concrete, though, about what was going on over there."

Police have established a 24-hour hot­line for those who may have been in Johnson’s home and may have appeared on any of his tapes: (732) 706-4100.