Dad Charged With Assault Says Saint Mary School Principal Is Not Addressing Bullying

MIDDLETOWN, NJ ? A Middletown dad criminally charged with aggravated assault at Saint Mary's Catholic school maintains he never pushed a school secretary to the ground ? as school officials accuse him of doing ? and he also says the Catholic primary school has a problem with not addressing bullying.

Port Monmouth resident Richard LeComte, 38, was arrested by Middletown Police inside the school building on May 29, Middletown Police confirmed. Police were called to the school at 2:30 p.m. that day; LeComte was put into handcuffs and charged with aggravated assault, false public alarm and terroristic threats.

In a video LeComte released to Facebook, which has garnered more than 20,000 views, the father tells his side of the story.

"I want to shed some light on what actually happened at Saint Mary's, and not this very constructed narrative that Craig Palmer and the Saint Mary's administration want to be portrayed," he starts off the video.

LeComte ? who up until last week sent all four of his children to Saint Mary's ? said his oldest daughter, 13, has been bullied for nearly the past two years by a fellow seventh-grade girl.

"It started off as banter between the two girls. The one girl would spread rumors about my daughter, calling her ugly, saying she's fat, saying she doesn't know why she's on the cheerleading team," he said. "Then in the 2024-'25 school year the two girls were unfortunately put in a bunch of the same classes. It got worse."

LeComte said he used to be very involved in Saint Mary's, as he coached the school's flag football and softball teams. He was in the school so frequently that he was given a key card to get in and out of the building.

"When I would mention the bullying and harassment to (Saint Mary's school) principal Craig Palmer, he would just tell me, 'Oh, it's being investigated, we are talking to both girls,'" said LeComte. "Nothing was ever done. The girl never had detention, suspension. Nothing."

LeComte said the girl bullying his daughter is the child of a woman who works for Saint Mary's Mother of God Catholic church, which operates the school. He also said other families have since contacted him to say they've had similar problems with the child's behavior.

When asked to respond, Saint Mary's principal Palmer said on Friday:

"We have no comment currently regarding the ongoing investigation. We are fully cooperating with the Middletown Police Department and trust in their process to handle this matter appropriately," said Palmer.

On May 29, LeComte's wife was in the school volunteering at a classroom party. She found their oldest daughter in the school building crying and saying she was very scared of the other girl. LeComte said his wife immediately spoke to the school principal. His daughter was then sent back to class. LeComte said he then went to the school that same afternoon as he was "not happy with how the matter was resolved."

"I did not go into the school angry; I was very calm. I asked (name redacted) in the office what happened."

He said the secretary did not know what happened, but also that neither the secretary nor his wife knew where the girl was.

Le Comte said he found "his daughter hysterically crying in the stairwell and scared. I asked her what was going on and she showed me text messages from the girl."

He said other staff members then gathered around, and "at this point nobody asked me to leave or calm down."

LeComte said the school security guard then got involved. "He started raising his voice, I started raising my voice back at him and he pushed me. There was a scuffle, a ball of people and (the secretary) was in the middle of him and I, and she fell down. In no way, shape or form did I grab (her) or any other teacher or staff member and throw them to the ground. I did not put my hands on anybody at all. She got in between the security guard and me; it was this chaotic group of people and I'm not even sure how she got knocked down."

"I called him a fake cop, which I stand by, and he later told me that because I'm covered in tattoos he found me intimidating," said LeComte. "There is video, which I want to be released. I was assaulted by a Saint Mary's staff member. He's a security guard and he's supposed to be there to de-escalate situations and he has a gun on his hip."

LeComte said the way this was handled prompted him and his wife to pull all four of their children, ages 13, 7, 5 and 2, permanently out of Saint Mary's.

"We've paid more than $30,000 a year to send our children there and I work overnights for my kids' education. I don't work 80 hours a week, Monday through Sunday, and break my back to be able to afford private school for this to be accepted," he said, of how the alleged bullying was handled. "It just seems crazy this would happen at a private school. Why are there so many events swept under the rug?"

The LeComtes are considering enrolling their children in Middletown public schools in the fall.

"We?re seeking all available options at this point. Our faith in traditional Catholic values and the standard set for their morals has tarnished the way we view Catholic education and has damaged our thoughts on private facilities," he said Monday. "Our faith in God, and not in man, has us torn."

Teens who finished Saint Mary's used to attend Mater Dei High School, Middletown's Catholic prep school. But Mater Dei was shut down by the Diocese of Trenton in 2022. Saint Mary Mother of God church then hatched this plan last year to rent out the Mater Dei building to CAPS charter school, a controversial charter school in Asbury Park that is now under a state investigation.

The CAPS plan fell through.

Then in March, Middletown Township announced it will purchase the Mater Dei High School building and 20-acre surrounding grounds and turn the site into a park, to be called Mater Dei Park. Middletown and the county will pay Saint Mary Mother of God $11.75 million for the property, all of which will go directly to Saint Mary's church.

The Mater Dei school building will be torn down, with demolition starting this summer.

NJ Now Investigating CAPS Charter School, Which Wanted To Move Into Mater Dei (Feb. 2025)

Middletown Twp. Will Purchase Mater Dei High, Make It Town Park (March 2025)