Robert Sinnott Jr.

Introduction

Robert M. Sinnott Jr., known to colleagues as “Bob,” is a retired police officer from Island Heights, New Jersey, and a former chief of the Silverton Volunteer Fire Company in Toms River who had more recently been living in Cape Coral, Florida. On September 2, 2026, a New Jersey state grand jury indicted the 53-year-old on nine criminal counts, including second-degree official misconduct and second-degree pattern of official misconduct, relating to 11 alleged victims described by the Attorney General’s Office as employees he supervised and colleagues. The indictment returned the charges first filed against him in December 2025 and added new counts. Sinnott has not been tried; the charges are accusations, and he is presumed innocent.

Background Information

Sinnott built a two-track career in Ocean County public safety. He served in various supervisory roles at the Silverton Volunteer Fire Company in Toms River, rising to the position of fire chief. Separately, he served as a police officer for the Island Heights Police Department, from which he retired.

By late 2025, Sinnott was residing in Cape Coral, Florida. Within the fire company, investigators would later say, he worked alongside firefighters who alleged they saw him as a role model — a standing that prosecutors said was central to the conduct described in the case against him.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from an investigation by the New Jersey Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) and from a state grand jury indictment returned on September 2, 2026. They were never admitted by Sinnott and have never been adjudicated in court: he has been charged but not tried, and the criminal charges are merely accusations. Sinnott is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The first charges became public in December 2025, when Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin’s office announced that Sinnott was charged by complaint with four counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and one count of second-degree official misconduct. Prosecutors alleged that he forced several firefighters into non-consensual sexual encounters while serving in roles that included fire chief, and that the firefighters viewed him as a mentor, which he allegedly exploited. According to OPIA, Sinnott created opportunities in 2022 and 2023 to isolate the firefighters at his home, the firehouse, or other locations, where investigators allege he handcuffed or otherwise restrained the victims under the guise of “training” before engaging in unwanted sexual contact. Some victims reported that Sinnott photographed them while they were restrained.

On December 4, 2025, Sinnott was arrested in Florida by the Cape Coral Police SWAT Team, with assistance from state investigators. Search warrants were executed at his residence, on his vehicle, and on his person. He was held in Lee County Jail pending extradition and was subsequently extradited to New Jersey to face prosecution.

The case expanded on September 2, 2026, when a state grand jury voted to indict Sinnott not only on the earlier charges from the complaint but also on new counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, second-degree official misconduct, and second-degree pattern of official misconduct, bringing the indictment to a total of nine criminal counts relating to 11 victims. As announced by Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and OPIA, the indictment alleges that Sinnott, in his supervisory roles at the fire company, forced multiple other firefighters — who alleged they saw him as a role model — into acts of non-consensual sexual contact, and that the pattern count alleges numerous instances of similar conduct allegedly committed while he was acting as an Island Heights police officer. It is alleged that over the course of many years he created situations where he would be alone with victims at various locations, including his residence in Toms River and the firehouse, handcuffing victims under the false pretense of needing their assistance with a police-related training, or otherwise physically restraining them, before forcing sexual contact upon them against their will.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Announcing the indictment, Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said: “The defendant held positions of trust and power within the communities he served and among his coworkers and subordinates in government. But, as alleged in the indictment, he abused that trust again and again.” She added that it is “inexcusable for public officials to so betray the people they serve and the people they lead,” and that “The State is committed to fighting for justice for these victims.”

The charges Sinnott faces are serious on paper. Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in New Jersey state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while fourth-degree offenses could lead to up to 18 months in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

OPIA also asked for the public’s help, urging anyone with additional information about Sinnott’s conduct to contact its toll-free corruption tip line or Detective Brandon Mastropasqua directly.

Current Status

As of the September 2, 2026 announcement, Sinnott had been indicted by the state grand jury and extradited to New Jersey, and the case was pending; no trial has taken place and no verdict has been reached. Deputy Attorneys General Diana Bibb and Laura Croce are prosecuting the case for the OPIA Corruption Bureau. His defense counsel of record is Mitchell J. Ansell, Esq., of Ocean Township, New Jersey. No statement from Sinnott himself is quoted in the reports announcing the charges, and the Attorney General’s Office reiterated that criminal charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The indictment effectively put a public end to both of the careers that defined Sinnott’s adult life. He had already retired from the Island Heights Police Department and was no longer serving as Silverton’s fire chief by the time the first charges were filed, but the December 2025 arrest at his Cape Coral home and the subsequent extradition to New Jersey ended the post-retirement life he had built in Florida. His standing in the Toms River volunteer fire community, where subordinates allegedly viewed him as a role model and mentor, is now attached to a nine-count indictment. If convicted on the second-degree counts, he faces five to 10 years in state prison and fines of up to $150,000, though that outcome remains for a court to determine.