Autistic Mays Landing man mistaken for sex offender, family says | #childpredator | #kidsaftey | #hacking | #aihp

MAYS LANDING — Corey San Chirico faced numerous challenges growing up with autism, but at 38, he hasn’t let the neurological condition keep him from enjoying his best life.

However, he’s now wearing a makeshift badge around his neck, conveying to the public he isn’t the sex offender people believe he is, in an attempt to prevent being screamed at or put into stressful situations.

“He gets like verbally assaulted, and it’s been causing him a lot of anxiety lately to the point where he’d come home and start digressing,” said Stefan San Chirico, Corey’s brother. “He doesn’t understand why people are doing this.”

Corey San Chirico’s family says he’s being confused with Talal Aridi, a former township resident who is listed on the state’s sex offender registry. Their long hair and bushy beards have likely caused the confusion.

At least 12 times over the past six months, he’s been screamed at by people mistaking him for Aridi.

A few weeks ago, his mother said, a person came up to her neighbor, a police officer, telling her they thought he was the sex offender for which he’s been mistaken.

Other times, police came to her house asking for Corey’s identification because he was spotted walking near the Joseph Shaner School down the street.

Camille San Chirico’s phone number is listed on Corey’s badge, should a passerby feel it necessary to call his mother for verification.

The fact that Corey has repeatedly been mistaken for Aridi has his mother distraught, trying also through social media to get people to stop screaming at her son.

The case of mistaken identity has progressed to police involvement, the family says.

“It’s like, ‘Here we go again, now I have to explain this again,’” said Camille San Chirico. “I’ve had the cops come here a few times for the mistaken identity.”

Police Chief Greg Ciambrone said his officers have received several calls mistaking Corey for Aridi. The department knows who he is, but they have to follow through on calls, confirming callers did, in fact, not spot Aridi when they dialed police.

“If we keep getting calls, we’re going to go out,” Ciambrone said. “Our officers know very well who he is.”

Aridi, whom the family says it knows through Aridi’s father’s medical practice, was charged with trying to lure an 11-year-old girl into his car in 2018. Aridi stopped his vehicle on Berry Drive, asked the girl for her phone number and whether she needed a ride, took pictures of the girl and followed her to a friend’s house.

Aridi’s listed address is an apartment in Lindenwold, Camden County, according to the New Jersey Sex Offender Registry’s website.

It was unclear whether Aridi has an attorney that can speak on his behalf.

San Chirico’s family said someone started a rumor about Aridi’s return to the township after spotting Corey walking near the Shaner School on Third Street. They learned through a security guard about the mistaken identity.

Hamilton Township Superintendent Jeff Zito declined to comment.

“A lot of it happens at Wawa because he likes to go to Wawa,” Stefan San Chirico said, referring to the convenience store on Route 50 in downtown Mays Landing.

The staff knows him, but plenty of customers don’t, making the situation stressful, the family says.

Wawa said Wednesday it “worked quickly” to help the family and community resolve the misperception.

“We are committed to making sure our stores maintain an environment that is positive and welcoming,” Lori Bruce, a senior public relations manager for Wawa, said in a statement.

Aggressive encounters can be detrimental to an autistic person who doesn’t always understand certain social situations, the family says.

The stress of getting approached in such a manner has boiled over, the family says.

Aridi, 38, faces new charges he allegedly used his phone to photograph a teenager walking to her bus stop in the area of Pine Glen Drive and Jarvis Road in Sicklerville last year. The case has yet to go before a grand jury, state court officials said.

The mistaken-identity incidents extend beyond the past six months. His mother remembers a situation at The Cove beach at Lake Lenape during the summer where a man forced his daughters from the water, urging them to avoid Corey, believing him to be Aridi.

Learning about Corey San Chirico’s disability and having an autistic son himself, the man apologized, Camille San Chirico said.

His mother wants everyone to know her son isn’t a threat, posting to social media with messages explaining his condition and urging people who see him around town to be kind.

While it hopefully prevents further encounters that could aggravate Corey’s anxiety, it’s one they shouldn’t have to take, altering his life to stay safe, Camille San Chirico said.

“It’s frustrating, and then you get so mad that you want to go out to people yourself and say, ‘What the hell?’” she said. “I’ve had to do this since he was a baby because of his autism. People would say, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ People didn’t even know what autism is, and I had to explain it and bring it to the school because I always wanted him to go to a regular school.”

Corey San Chirico has grown up in the township nearly all his life, going through the school system and briefly attending Atlantic Cape Community College.

He began showing signs of autism as a young child, using shorter words and phrases when he spoke. He also would be found spending time alone, not interacting as much with others, Camille San Chirico said.

Camille wants Corey to be known most for his artwork, some of which dates to when he was 5. Several pieces of his are hung around their home on Fourth Street.

He also enjoys exploring the woods nearby and being environmentally friendly in his spare time, retrieving recyclables from the forest and disposing of them.

“We live in the age where everything is false information, and it spreads so easily,” Stefan San Chirico said. “It seems like nobody has their own mind anymore to make their own conclusion on something.”