Fake Megan's Law letter accuses New Jersey business owner of being sex offender

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Thursday, January 9, 2020
Fake letter accuses NJ business owner of being sex offender
The mailing claims to be a Megan's Law notification letter, warning recipients about alleged offenses committed by the business owner. Police say it's a fake.

HOWELL TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police in New Jersey are warning residents about a letter that falsely accuses a Monmouth County business owner of being a sex offender.

Copies of the letter were sent to a number of businesses, homes and schools in Howell Township.

Several of the letters arrived Wednesday in an envelope designed to look like an official communication from New Jersey's Office of the Attorney General.

The mailing claims to be a Megan's Law notification letter, warning recipients about alleged offenses committed by the business owner.

Howell Township Police say the letter is a fake. Investigators believe it was sent out to discredit the business owner who is named.

They issued the following statement:

The person named is this letter is NOT subject to any type of investigation, prosecution or conviction of any offense related to Megan's Law. At first, this letter may seem real, however upon examination it is poorly written and constructed.

If you receive this letter, marked on the exterior with an address of the State of New Jersey (see photo), please handle it as little as possible and do not open it as it may be of evidentiary value. We already have several in our possession.

Anyone who receives one of the letters is asked to take it to Howell Township Police Department - 300 Old Tavern Rd, Howell Township, NJ 07731 - or call the department at 732-938-4111 and arrange to have an officer pick it up.

Tips or other information about the case can be submitted by calling Howell Township Police Detective Benitez at 732-938-4575 x6627; messaging Howell police through the department's Facebook page; or using the department's anonymous tip service.

RELATED: New Jersey State Police's official sex offender registry

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