In first court appearance, boy describes sex encounter with town’s suspended animal control officer

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton animal control officer Saul “Nate” Barson, accused of committing sex crimes on a 13-year-old boy in Pennsylvania in February, went to the popular children’s destination Disney World this month with employees of his animal control business, in what Bucks County law enforcement said Wednesday raised concern given that is a tourist spot for kids., The revelation of his Florida vacation, taken sometime last week, came up toward the end of Barson’s preliminary hearing in a Pennsylvania courtroom, in which Barson, 29, came face-to-face with his accuser. Separated by a few feet from Barson, the child sat on the witness stand to recount the roughly 25-minute encounter they allegedly had Feb.3 in a Solebury Township park, in Barson’s pickup truck, and the events leading up to it. Things ended, the boy said, when the boy’s mother came on the scene, with the woman able to get the license plate number of the truck and then go to law enforcement with her husband afterward., After the boy’s testimony, Magistrate District Judge Maggie Snow, sitting in Bucks County, moved the case up to the Court of Common Pleas, the equivalent of Superior Court in New Jersey., Pennsylvania does not have a criminal indicting grand jury, so Wednesday was the time for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office to make a prima facie case of Barson’s guilt to convince the judge to move the matter to the higher court. Scheduled to be arraigned April 21, he is charged with sexual assault and related offenses. Barson, free on bail, and his defense lawyer, Steven M. Jones, left the courthouse declining to comment., The boy, the only witness to testify during the hearing, took questions from Jones and Deputy District Attorney Chelsey Jackman, in a mostly empty courtroom., Curious about the possibilities to make friends, he said he had gone on a hookup app for gays and bisexuals, called Grinder, and saw Barson’s account. He later said he had received a notice of Barson greeting him., “I think he reached out to me first,” the youth said., Later, they communicated through Snapchat, and then arranged to meet at Pat Livezey Park, at the youth’s suggestion given he said it is near where he lives. Telling his parents he was going out for a run, he said he went to the park on foot and got there before Barson had arrived, around 6 p.m., In at times graphic detail, he spoke of how he got into Barson’s truck and the two of them engaged in “small talk” for a few minutes., The youth said he had suggested “that we hook up,” with the two having sex in Barson’s truck., Barson, hearing himself described as a pedophile, sat through the hearing not saying a word, except for making small talk during a break in the proceeding when the lawyers and the judge conferred in her chambers., Later, Jackman raised the Florida trip issue and produced a photo of Barson and two others. As part of Barson’s bail conditions, he cannot be alone with anyone under the age of 18, but he is not prohibited from traveling outside of New Jersey., Barson told the judge that no minors went on the trip, one that he took for “fun and mental health.” But Jackman said outside court that it was “concerning” that he went to Disney World, given all the children who go there., Barson has been suspended without pay from his job with the municipality since his arrest Feb.20. He has worked for Princeton since July 2015., The town has said he went through an extensive background check that found no criminal record., Barson, of West Amwell, in Hunterdon County, also owns a private business that provides animal control services. Towns that had used his company have cut ties with the firm since his arrest.