NJ girls school basketball coach faces prison after guilty plea

🚨 Middletown North teacher and longtime girls basketball coach has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a minor student he supervised.

⚖️ Justin McGhee faces at least five years in prison, permanent loss of public employment and sentencing scheduled for February 2026.

🏀 The once-celebrated coach was also fired from his AAU club team after his arrest.

A Monmouth County teacher and girls basketball coach has admitted to sexually assaulting a minor student from his high school.

Justin McGhee, of Ocean Township, had been a celebrated coach at Middletown High School North, where he led the girls’ basketball team for eight years until his arrest last winter.

Popular Middletown North coach, teacher arrested after allegations

The 36-year-old McGhee was also a health and physical education teacher and assistant football coach at the school.

On Monday in Monmouth County Superior Court, he pleaded guilty to sexual assault by a supervisor of a teen victim older than 16.

Leading up to his arrest, McGhee had been spotted with the teen in a car after midnight, according to an affidavit filed in his case.

He later told police that they had engaged in sexual encounters in his home's basement.

Coach fired from NJ Shoreshots AAU team after winter arrest

McGhee was also a private coach with the club basketball team, NJ Shoreshots Girls AAU, for about three years.

A team representative confirmed that he had been fired at the time of his arrest in January.

McGhee was expected to face at least five years in prison and must give up all public employment, the Asbury Park Press reported.

He has been scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 20, 2026, and would also be required to register with the state as a sex offender, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said on Wednesday.

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