Stockton grad accused of sex assault to apply for diversion program

A Stockton University graduate and Wildwood bartender accused of sexual assaults in two civil lawsuits pleaded not guilty to  criminal charges in one of the alleged attacks. Zachary Madle, 25, is accused of recording the inappropriate touching of a woman Feb. 15, 2017, that he then posted on Snapchat, according to the charges. He was indicted last month on one charge of aggravated sexual contact and two charges of invasion of privacy. Attorney Steve Scheffler told Judge Jeffrey Waldman that his client would apply for pretrial intervention, whicj would allow him to avoid prosecution by completing a diversion program. The defense still hasn’t received some evidence, including the Snapchat images, Scheffler said outside the courtroom. “We’re confident the evidence will show Zach didn’t do anything against this person’s will and without her consent,” he said. The alleged victim already had sued Madle and Stockton in a lawsuit where she claimed he spiked her drink while he was at her Stockton dorm on Valentine's Day. The woman, identified in the suit as M.R., blacked out and “woke up naked, confused, choking and covered in vomit,” the suit claims. M.R. later found three Snapchat stories showing the alleged sex assault, including one in which she was naked. Madle is also named in a second suit leveled at him, Stockton and Pi Kappa Phi — a fraternity not recognized by the school since 2010. An online petition started this summer urges the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office to put Madle "behind bars."