Trenton Detective Says Supervisor Assaulted Him, Seeks $1.5M From NJ Attorney General

A 33-year-old detective with New Jersey's Division of Criminal Justice says a supervisor sexually assaulted him at the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton, and that the state's Attorney General's office did nothing to stop years of anti-gay harassment that followed. Russell Kingsland has now filed a notice of tort claim seeking $1.5 million in damages from the state, a required legal step before he can sue.

According to NJ.com, Kingsland's notice of claim describes the alleged sexual assault occurring on January 19, 2023, inside the Trenton complex that houses the Attorney General's office. He reported the incident to a deputy attorney general, who advised him to call police or contact internal affairs himself, per the notice of claim — and attorney Patrick Toscano alleges that same deputy attorney general failed to report the assault. Kingsland did not immediately contact police or internal affairs himself, according to the notice.

Kingsland has worked for the Attorney General's office since May 2016, and before his 2025 suspension he served as lead detective on major Division of Criminal Justice operations, including multi-agency state busts against Bloods and Crips gang-related drug rings in Paterson in 2019 and 2020, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. He conducted long-term investigations involving organized crime, narcotics, weapons and violent offenses, and in December 2021 the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division affirmed a conviction in State v. Peguero-Nin that relied on search warrant affidavits Kingsland drafted during a 2017 DCJ narcotics investigation, according to Justia Law.

Rumors, a Firing Range, and a Forced Disclosure

Kingsland disclosed to coworkers and family that he is gay in November 2022, the same month two supervisors approached him about rumors concerning his sexuality, per the notice of claim outlined in the NJ.com report. He said he feared further exposure of his sexuality and retaliation as a result. The notice details a subsequent incident at an indoor firing range at Fort Dix, where a supervisor allegedly harassed Kingsland with homophobic slurs and allegedly blocked his exit while wearing a firearm.

A supervisor also allegedly asked Kingsland, “Are you getting an erection?” according to the notice of claim. Kingsland began documenting incidents of harassment after the Fort Dix encounter, and Toscano said his client was compiling the record specifically to submit up the chain of command.

Exclusion, a Denied Transfer, and Internal Affairs Action

Throughout 2023 and 2024, Kingsland says he was excluded from meetings, undercover operations, radio communications, case work and other activities. He requested a transfer out of the Whippany location in 2024, but an administrator told him he does not get to pick where he goes, according to the notice. He was transferred instead to a general crimes unit while remaining at the same location he describes as hostile.

Kingsland submitted a complaint to internal affairs on August 14, 2024. He was suspended in 2025 after internal affairs learned he had been documenting the harassment, and on May 28, 2025, internal affairs removed him from duty and took his firearm — an action the agency described as a reassignment rather than a suspension. Kingsland remains suspended, and the Attorney General's office is now seeking his termination.

Institutional Tension for the State's Top Law Office

The case lands squarely within the agency that is supposed to enforce New Jersey's own anti-discrimination protections. Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, state law explicitly prohibits employment bias and sexual orientation discrimination and makes employers liable if they retaliate against employees who report unlawful conduct; the statute also allows individual supervisors who actively participate in or aid workplace harassment to be named directly in civil lawsuits. The Division of Criminal Justice operates directly under the Office of the Attorney General as the state's primary law enforcement agency for organized crime, police corruption and complex statewide offenses, and Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, appointed in 2022, oversees that division as New Jersey's chief law enforcement officer. In November 2019, the office established Attorney General Directive 2019-3, known as the LGBTQ Equality Directive, to enforce anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ individuals across state law enforcement.

Kingsland says the alleged events caused severe psychological trauma and substance use disorder, and a doctor has advised him not to return to work as a police officer. He describes himself as disabled due to the alleged hostile work environment and says he is now unable to work as a police officer. He earns $121,000 per year in his current role, according to the notice of claim.

A Broader Pattern of Claims Against Departmental Leadership

Kingsland's attorney, Patrick P. Toscano Jr., is a former First Assistant Essex County Prosecutor who specializes in civil rights litigation and law enforcement representation. Toscano has repeatedly taken on cases scrutinizing how internal affairs units handle misconduct complaints; in March 2025 he represented five North Bergen police officers filing tort claims over alleged chief misconduct, publicly calling on Platkin to take over that department's daily operations, according to CBS News. Hoodline previously reported on a fired officer's harassment lawsuit against North Bergen supervisors, also filed under the state's Law Against Discrimination with Toscano as counsel.

According to the New Jersey Courts' 19 Aug 2020 opinion, Doris Gonzalez appealed a summary-judgment ruling in a Law Against Discrimination case against the City of Newark and other defendants.

Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, individuals planning to sue a state agency must file a formal notice of claim within 90 days of the incident's accrual and observe a mandatory six-month waiting period before filing a civil suit — the procedural step Kingsland has now taken as a precursor to litigation. The Attorney General's office said it does not comment on pending litigation.