An Atlantic County recovery leader was released from jail Thursday, after pleading guilty to second-degree child luring.
Robert Catalano Jr., 59, was one of four men arrested in May, when several groups that hunt child predators online converged in the area.
Catalano was the only one held following a detention hearing shortly after the arrests. He was briefly hospitalized after his arrest for an undisclosed reason.
Catalano is now free pending his sentencing set for May 13. He faces a three-year suspended sentence, meaning he likely will not do any further jail time unless he violates his probation.
He also must register as a Megan's Law sex offender, and will have lifetime oversight.
The Atlantic City man could have faced as many as 10 years in prison and $125,000 fine, according to the plea agreement obtained by BreakingAC.
Catalano thought he was meeting a 14-year-old boy when a camera crew showed up at his father's Atlantic City home, where he was also living.
Catalano insists he did not believe a juvenile was really coming to his home. But Fellows points out that he gave an address near his home in a gated community on Formica Way, then was “peeking over the fence the whole time looking for him. We’ve got it all recorded.”
“I was trying to figure out how to get the person where they need to be,” said Catalano, who works as a drug counselor for Recovery Force of Atlantic County, a group he started.
"You reached out to a 14-year-old, you talked dirty, you gave him your address, you brought him over for a massage,” Fellows says.
Catalano had his father’s garage converted to an office, Bob Sr. told Fellows later.
“Sometimes he works late,” the elder Catalano said. “He has addicts that he counsels.”
Some of those he has taken into his garage office appear to be teens, according to neighbors, who indicated they already had issues with Catalano.
“We’ve been trying to get him out of here,” a woman off-camera is heard saying.
She then says that Catalano goes to the bathroom in a bucket and “dumps it out back.”
A man identifying himself as the condo association’s vice president then approaches the group, saying he gets constant complaints about Catalano.
“We want to get involved in this because this dude’s a problem for us too,” he tells Fellows. “He’s got many problems. This is the last straw.”
It's not clear if Catalano returned to his father's home after his release. But any neighbors would be notified under Megan's Law.
In the video, Catalano claims he has believes he may have a sexual addiction, but not "a fetish for children."
But as Fellows scrolls through Catalano's texts on the Grindr app, he notes “there’s several young kids on here.”
“It looks like you talked to every single one of ‘em, Bud,” he tells Catalano.
Catalano also tells them he has been treated for impulse control and kleptomania. This matches with emails Catalano sent to then-Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner in January 2018, asking for his help after unspecified arrests in Absecon and Egg Harbor Township.
The email was sent just hours after their first in-person meeting to discuss Catalano's Recovery Force work.
Catalano indicates that health insurance lost from his previous employment left him without medications needed to treat his issues, and resulted in a relapse of both his addiction and mental health issues, leading to the arrests.
"I really can use a break right now Damon and you are the only person on the planet that can help me," he writes in the email previously obtained by BreakingAC. "Even God can only act through you. I am asking for a pardon."
In response, Tyner forwarded the email to then-First Assistant Prosecutor Cary Shill: "Please look into this and let's discuss today," Tyner says in a note to Shill.
Catalano then sent a follow-up email to Shill that February, offering to take a polygraph test and sign anything necessary to open up his mental health records to the office.
"Mr. Catalano sent me this email," Shill writes in a note forwarding the email to Tyner. "I printed out the documents that he sent and I will give them to (your secretary)."
Almost two years later, Catalano sent a follow-up email mentioning the various postponements in the case he said were requested due to his medical issues. He also asks Shill for help in getting back the $1,000 bail his aunt put up for him in a municipal arrest.
Shill's response reiterates an earlier email in which he told him he needs to talk to an attorney.
"As to the 'episodes' mentioned in your email, I believe you are referring to your matters pending in municipal court, in which you are represented by an attorney," Shill wrote. "As I previously advised, it would be in your best interests for you to maintain legal representation. These matters involve complicated issues and it is important that you have an attorney who can ensure your rights are protected and secure the best possible outcome for your case."
Shill is now the acting prosecutor, after Tyner abruptly resigned in July.
It appears Chief Assistant Prosecutor Rick McKelvey oversaw Catalano's recent prosecution. He said there was no conflict in the office handling the child-luring case.
Neither Catalano nor his public defender returned requests seeking comment.
