Patrick Lott's Final Sentencing Delayed Again

Final sentencing for Patrick Lott, the assistant principal at Bernardsville Middle School prior to his arrest in December 2011 for videotaping boys in the showers at Immaculata High School where he had been a volunteer basketball coach, has been delayed again until November, according to a MyCentralJersey.com report.

In May, Lott, had appeared before Superior Court Judge Julie Marino, and agreed to a six-year prison sentence as part of a plea agreement with the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. He also agreed to forfeit his state educator’s certificates and will be subject to the terms of Megan’s Law, requiring the registration of sex offenders.

James Wronko, Lott’s attorney, said then his client agreed to the deal because he wanted to spare the victims, the Immaculata school community, and his family the ordeal of going through a trial.

Lott’s final sentencing was originally scheduled for Aug. 23, but that date was delayed. According to the MyCentralJersey report, the matter was returned to court last Friday, only to be adjourned again until Nov. 15.

In May, Lott was to be evaluated before the sentencing by state psychiatrists to determine if he will be sent to state prison or the state Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel for sex offenders. 

Lott has been in Somerset County Jail since his arrest in December 2011 in lieu of $500,000 bail. Because he will receive credit for time already served when he is sentenced, it is possible that Lott could be released by the end of the year, according to his attorney, James Wronko, and given state guidelines that inmates are eligible for parole after serving a third of their sentence.

Marino told Lott in May that his time of confinement may be longer if he is sent to Avenel instead of state prison.

“Mr. Lott is an intelligent person,” Wronko said. “He is prepared to do his time and he is thinking about what he will do when he is released.”

As part of the deal with the prosecutor's office, Lott pleaded guilty to multiple counts of third-degree invasion of privacy and second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor between about Jan. 1, 2007 and Dec. 13, 2011.

“He knows exactly what he is doing,” Wronko told the judge.

The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office had originally offered a plea agreement calling for 10 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement he accepted, Lott will not be subjected to parole supervision for life.

Lott was indicted in June 2012 on 29 counts of invasion of privacy, 30 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, second degree, 17 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, third degree, and 15 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, fourth degree.

In December, 2011, detectives assigned to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit had executed a search warrant at Lott’s  home where they seized multiple computer and digital recordings.

Lott was given high marks during his time in the Somerset Hills school district on an online student rating site. Following his arrest, then-Somerset Hills Schools Superintendent Peter Miller said that an investigation showed no evidence Lott had ever taped students within the public school district, where he had held positions at both Bernards High School and the Bernardsville Middle School.