Jackson Township says its Oct. 30 Safe Trick-or-Treat will move forward with replacement entertainment after officials removed a performer with a federal child-sex conviction and severed ties with the company that supplied him.
JACKSON, NJ — Jackson Township’s Safe Trick-or-Treat has not been canceled after a convicted sex offender was booked to perform at the children’s Halloween event, but it will move forward with new entertainers.
Instead, the township removed Matthew Adam Brand from the lineup and reportedly ended its relationship with the outside entertainment company that supplied him and said replacement entertainment will be announced before the Oct. 30 event.
The controversy began after Jackson resident Eleanor Hannum raised Brand’s criminal history during the Sept. 22 Township Council meeting, questioning how someone with his record had been selected for an event promoted specifically to children and families.
Township cuts ties with entertainment company
Mayor Jennifer Kuhn said Brand had been assigned to Jackson through DCA, an outside entertainment company used by the township.
DCA confirmed with Shore News Network that it is no longer the booking agency for the township. DCA refused to comment on the matter, directing all questions to the mayor’s office.
“The entertainment company — not the Mayor, Council or Department — selected and assigned its employees to fulfill its contract with the Township,” Kuhn said.
The township says Brand “will not appear at the event” and that its relationship with the entertainment company has been terminated.
Kuhn said Jackson officials, council members and department heads were unaware of Brand’s criminal history before it was raised publicly at the council meeting.
Residents have criticized Kuhn and recreation coordinator Fred Meabe for not doing their due diligence in booking Brand. Meabe is a retired police officer who now serves a dual role as public information officer and event coordinator for the recreation dept.
The township is now reviewing how contractors and their employees are screened, particularly when outside workers will interact directly with children. Council President Mordechai Burnstein defended the township against accusations that it violated its own ordinance that requires organizations who interact with children on township property to undergo a background check.
Burnstein said township lawyers told him that background checks do not apply for third party vendors.
“Historically, the Township has not conducted independent criminal background investigations on every employee of every private company it contracts with,” Kuhn said. “Private employers have been responsible for screening the employees they assign to Township work.”
She said that practice will now be reconsidered.
“If additional safeguards are necessary, this administration will put them in place,” Kuhn said.
Federal case involved attempted meeting with 13-year-old
The criminal history that triggered the controversy is documented in federal court records.
In United States v. Brand, a federal appeals court upheld Brand’s convictions for traveling across state lines for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl and attempting to entice a minor into illegal sexual activity.
The supposed girl was not actually a child. She was part of an undercover operation.
Brand traveled from New Jersey to Manhattan expecting to meet the person he believed was 13 and was arrested by federal agents near the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
He was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Resident raised alarm at council meeting
Hannum brought the issue to township officials after Brand appeared on promotional material for the Halloween event as a puppeteer performing with a character called Batty Belfry.
As Shore News Network first reported when the booking surfaced, Council President Mordechai Burnstein said during the meeting that he would follow up with the township to determine how Brand had been booked and what had gone wrong.
The questions carried additional weight because Jackson had advertised the program as a “Safe Trick-or-Treat.”
Township officials subsequently confirmed that Brand had been supplied by DCA and removed him from the event.
Records being reviewed by the township indicate the entertainment company had provided services to Jackson going back more than two decades and across multiple administrations.
Safe Trick-or-Treat remains scheduled
Despite the fallout, families should not interpret the removal of Brand or the termination of the vendor relationship as cancellation of the Halloween event itself.
The Safe Trick-or-Treat remains scheduled for Oct. 30 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Jackson Township Hall, 95 West Veterans Highway.
The event has been promoted with trick-or-treating, pumpkin painting, giveaways, a costume contest and children’s entertainment.
Kuhn said the administration plans to announce a replacement entertainment lineup once the new performers are finalized.
For Jackson, the larger issue now moves beyond one performer. Township officials are reviewing how an outside company was able to assign someone with Brand’s criminal history to a municipal children’s event without that history being flagged before his name appeared on the public schedule.