Former NJ student wins $485,000 in teacher grooming settlement

🔴 Ocean City schools agree to big settlement

🔴 Woman accused substitute teacher of sexual abuse

🔴 Teacher was criminally charged at the time

OCEAN CITY — A New Jersey school district has agreed to settle a lawsuit with a woman who claimed she was groomed by a substitute teacher nearly 20 years ago.

The Ocean City school board approved the $485,000 settlement one week before Thanksgiving, according to documents first published by John Paff for TransparencyNJ.com.

Ocean City taxpayers aren't on the hook; Ocean City School Business Administrator Timothy Kelley said to TransparencyNJ.com that the district's insurance will pay the settlement rather than the district itself.

According to court documents, the woman accused the substitute teacher of "sexual acts and misconduct, sexually grooming, abuse and sexual assault."

Substitute teacher accused of sexual assault

The former student was 16 years old and the substitute teacher was in his mid-20s when the abuse began in 2007, according to the lawsuit first filed in Superior Court in Cape May County in May 2020.

In May 2008, the teacher was charged with aggravated sexual assault, criminal sexual contact, and enticing a minor with alcohol, the Cape May County Herald reported.

The teen girl told investigators that they were in a romantic relationship and would go to empty rooms throughout the school for sexual activity, State Police reportedly said.

She went to the police after she went to his home and she was sexually assaulted after she passed out from drinking, the report said.

ALSO SEE: Ashton Brewing in Middlesex Borough, NJ closes — 'heartbreaking'

State records do not show any criminal convictions for the accused teacher.

An open records request for documents from the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office yielded no results, TransparencyNJ.com reported. A response from the prosecutor's office indicated the former teacher's record may have been expunged.

New Jersey 101.5 has reached out to the state Department of Education for information on the current status of the man's teaching certificate in the state. Minutes from a 2008 State Board of Examiners meeting showed his certificate had been suspended pending the outcome of the criminal charges against him.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom