The former head of the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group pled guilty to child endangerment last month and is not permitted to have contact with his former foster child.
Christian Fuscarino, who headed Garden State Equality for nearly a decade before resigning last December, agreed to a plea agreement that will allow him to emerge without a criminal record after two years of a pre-trial intervention (PTI) and be medically discharged from a mental health treatment program.
Fuscarino admitted to pulling the foster child from his bed, hitting him in the face, and pushing him against the wall; he then struck him again. The incident was captured on camera by Fuscarino’s then-partner. Fuscarino had recently broken up with his longtime partner, who is now raising the foster child. That incident occurred in early November, and he was arrested a few weeks later.
Superior Court Judge Jill O’Malley dismissed two assault charges against Fuscarino. He can’t see his former foster child without approval from the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
Garden State Equality has retained Matt Boxer, a former state comptroller, to review the organization’s finances.
