NewsUpdated: Jul. 16, 2026, 5:50 p.m.Published: Jul. 15, 2026, 3:42 p.m.The husband of a 33-year-old woman charged with slapping a teenager on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk said his wife was also assaulted and believes the police’s decision to charge her days later was politically motivated. In a phone interview with NJ.com on Wednesday, Matthew Geroni said his wife Kaitlyn E. Tracey, a citizen of Canada, remains held at Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, and that she might be there for days to come. She was sent there on Monday after Point Pleasant Beach police charged her. Tracey was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, simple assault, harassment and obstruction a week after the July 3 confrontation. Geroni, a lifelong resident of the Jersey Shore who grew up in Point Pleasant Borough, contradicted the police’s version of the events on Wednesday, saying that she was only charged after public pushback. “This whole situation has been blown out of proportion and a person like Kate does not belong in any facility,” said Geroni. “My wife has never been in trouble in her entire life. She’s never had any kind of situation like this. This one little situation that was really a nothingburger when it happened has been blown so out of control by conservatives online that it has caused my wife to be put in a detention center.”An ICE spokeswoman said Tracey was taken into custody because she overstayed her visa. She entered the United States on April 14, 2024, on a visa which expired on September 6, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security sid. An affidavit of probable cause filed by investigators said Tracey yelled at two people in the group who were wearing “patriotic colored” sweatpants. She then slapped the victim across her face and body, according to the affidavit.Point Pleasant Beach cops said Tracey approached the teen while recording on her phone and fled after the confrontation. But Geroni, who was at work at the time of the incident, said his wife was shoved and hit. He claims she was not recording and never fled the police. He added that police never even took her ID because the teen was not injured and there was no property damage.But someone else did record and quickly blasted it out on social media, Geroni said. The affidavit said the encounter was recorded on surveillance cameras along the boardwalk. “The next day there’s this video posted of her online that’s totally out of context, where it shows her as the aggressor when she was not at all,” Geroni said. “And now from that video and from people having connections and knowing people in Point Pleasant Beach, my wife was given charges.”Charges were filed July 9 and then on Monday Tracey turned herself in after learning about them, Geroni said. She was briefly held at the Ocean County jail before ICE lodged a detainer and moved her to Delaney Hall.Point Pleasant Beach police didn’t immediately comment on Geroni’s allegations.Geroni said he hoped to be allowed to visit his wife on Thursday, but is concerned she might be held for a week or perhaps longer. Since the video began circulating online, Geroni said he has received death threats and that conservative groups have attempted to dox the couple. Geroni was also upset that a GoFundMe established for his wife has been taken down. A GoFundMe spokeswoman said it was removed because the platform’s terms of service “prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes.”“Consistent with this long-standing policy, any fundraisers for the legal defense of someone charged with a violent crime are removed from the platform and fully refunded.”In the meantime, Geroni said he will continue to defend Tracey, his wife of about three years, and fight for her freedom. “Everything that’s being said about her, it’s just not true,” Geroni said. “My wife is a wonderful person that would never hurt anybody. She’s not a violent human being.”Jeff Goldman is a morning/early afternoon breaking and local news reporter for NJ.com. He joined the Star-Ledger in 2010 after previously working as a high school sports reporter and sports copy editor at...