>From The Record, Saturday, January 26, 2008
BY EVONNE COUTROS
RIDGEWOOD — A 29-year-old female instructional aide at the high school was charged with child abuse after she was found with beer and suspected marijuana while in a parked car with a 16-year-old boy.
A police officer on patrol about 10 p.m. Wednesday saw Lindsay M. Murphy of Mahwah and the boy, a student at the high school, sitting in the car in the eastern section of the duck pond parking lot on East Ridgewood Avenue.
When the officer asked why they were there, Murphy, in the driver’s seat, said the two were talking. Murphy told the officer she was 25, said Detective Capt. Keith Killion.
“The male passenger was asked the same question, to which he replied that he was 17,” Killion said. He is 16, police said.
Murphy told police she was at a basketball game at the high school and that the juvenile in the passenger’s seat had concerns about his midterm exams and wanted to talk.
Murphy, an instructional aide, was asked if she was a teacher and she replied, “Yes,” police said.
Further questioning revealed additional discrepancies in their stories, Killion said. Police found beer in the car and a substance believed to be marijuana.
Murphy was charged with child abuse and neglect because of her instructional-aide status and the teen’s juvenile status, Killion said.
The two were charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance. Murphy received an additional charge of having an open or unsealed alcoholic beverage in the car.
Murphy was released pending a court appearance, and the juvenile was released to his sister, Killion said.
