NEW JERSEY SCHOOL SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors of Student Sexual Abuse in New Jersey

New Jersey schools allegedly failed to protect students from sexual abuse by teachers and staff, with allegations spanning decades across numerous school districts.

Levy Konigsberg is investigating claims that students in New Jersey schools were sexually abused by teachers and staff despite known reports of misconduct.

Multiple New Jersey school districts have faced lawsuits alleging that teachers and staff sexually abused students over several decades, with allegations spanning from the 1960s through the 2020s. The cases involve numerous districts across the state, with school officials in many instances allegedly having been aware of misconduct but failing to report it or take disciplinary action. Settlements across the various cases have totaled millions of dollars, with litigation ongoing in several districts. 

If you or a loved one was harmed, contact us today.

Sex Abuse Scandals in New Jersey Schools

Examples of alleged abuse, and of conditions likely to lead to abuse within New Jersey schools, include the following:

OCVTS Performing Arts School

• In August 2026, three additional lawsuits were filed against the Ocean County Vocational Technical School district, bringing the total number of victims pursuing claims against the district to four.

The lawsuits alleged sexual abuse by Performing Arts Academy teachers Douglas Bollinger and Michael Gillan.

The lawsuits claim that warnings of sexual misconduct at the school date back to at least 2005 and continued for nearly two decades, and that officials at the highest levels of the district ignored them.

Earlier that month, a lawsuit was filed in Ocean County Superior Court against the Ocean County Vocational-Technical Schools, the Performing Arts Academy, Bollinger, and the district 

In August 2024, Bollinger was arrested and charged for allegedly assaulting a former student more than 20 times between February and August 2019 on school grounds and at off-campus locations. 

In 2022, Zachary M. Slater was arrested for allegedly grooming and sexually assaulting at least two minor students at OCVTS between approximately 2013 and 2019. 

In 2013, multiple students, parents, and staff members reported an inappropriate relationship between an unnamed teacher and a student to district administration.

Anna C. Scott Elementary School

• In July 2026, sixteen former students filed lawsuits against the Leonia Board of Education and Anna C. Scott Elementary School, alleging they were repeatedly sexually abused by former teacher John Anagnosti over a period spanning more than a decade.

The alleged abuse included grooming, inappropriate touching, oral sex, forced masturbation, and forced penetration.

Plaintiffs alleged they reported the abuse to school officials, but they were ignored.

• In June 2025, four former students spoke publicly at a Leonia Board of Education meeting, detailing the abuse by Anagnosti.

It was reported that the board settled a $6 million lawsuit brought by two brothers who alleged Anagnosti sexually abused them for six years.

A separate case brought by another survivor was also settled.

• In April 1982, Anagnosti was convicted for sexually assaulting a fourth-grade student at Anna C. Scott Elementary School in 1980.

Lawrence Township School District (Myron L. Powell Elementary School)

• In June 2026, it was reported that the Lawrence Township School District in New Jersey had paid $3.125 million in total in settlements from 2015 to 2025 to former students who alleged they were sexually abused by Derek Hildreth, a former teacher at Myron L. Powell Elementary School, with the abuse allegedly spanning from the mid-1990s through 2010. 

Hildreth allegedly molested boys in his classroom, truck, at camps, and in a hotel room while attending a teachers convention. In his deposition, Hildreth described forcing boys to perform sexual acts in the shower, including masturbation and oral sex. 

Testimony from the deposition suggested that school administrators knew of his misconduct years before criminal charges were filed, yet no formal disciplinary action was filed. 

Cherry Hill Board of Education (James F. Cooper Elementary School)

• In October 2025, it was reported that the Cherry Hill Board of Education is facing 17 lawsuits filed for victims of Otto Becken, a former James F. Cooper Elementary School sixth grade teacher who had allegedly sexually abused students for a decade.  Becken is accused of touching students inappropriately, attempted sexual acts and making inappropriate comments to students between 1974 and 1984.  According to the lawsuits, the elementary school’s principal, Lloyd Sandt, allegedly received several reports of Becken’s inappropriate behavior that were made between 1974 and 1984 and did not report the incidents.  Further, the lawsuits allege that several teachers claimed that they had walked into Becken’s classroom and allegedly found that he had a student sitting on his lap and that a teacher at the elementary school had also allegedly warned a sixth grade student to “be careful” whenever they were near Becken.  However, despite several recorded incidents of misconduct by Becken, it is alleged that none of the cases were reported to the New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) until 1984.  When the allegations came to light, Becken reportedly resigned from the school and was ultimately convicted of sexual assault of minors. Becken died in 2011.

Hillsdale Public Schools (George White Elementary School)

• In September 2025, a former student of George White Elementary School filed a lawsuit alleging that he was sexually assaulted by his former teacher, Howard Schultz, while he was a student at George White in 1981 and 1982.  According to the lawsuit, when the plaintiff was 7 or 8 years old, Schultz would frequently keep him after class to help with cleaning the blackboard and other jobs, but would sexually abuse him in the closet and elsewhere instead.   In June, another one of Schults’s victims settled a case for $3 million in Bergen County Superior Court while the jury was deliberating.

Lacey Township Board of Education (Forked River Elementary School and Lanoka Harbor Elementary School)

• In August 2025, a lawsuit was brought against the Lacey Township Board of Education, alleging that a former Roman Catholic priest who later worked as an elementary school teacher, sexually abused the plaintiff as a child during the late 1970s. The lawsuit claims that Fr. Lawrence Gadek, a former priest of the Archdiocese of Newark who taught at Lanoka Harbor Elementary School, abused the plaintiff repeatedly between 1977 and 1980, beginning when she was just six years old. This lawsuit follows a 2024 lawsuit brought by another plaintiff who alleged that Gadek abused her beginning when she was 8 years old. She attended Forked River Elementary School and Lanoka Harbor Elementary School between 1977 and 1981. She claimed the abuse occurred almost daily and included fondling, digital penetration, and nude photographs. According to both lawsuits, Gadek used his authority as a teacher to isolate his students under the guise of providing “extra help” or “counseling sessions.” The complaints detail instances where Gadek allegedly forced the girls to undress, touched them inappropriately, required them to masturbate, and photographed them. Gadek was ordained as a priest in 1955 and served in the Archdiocese of Newark until 1966, including at St. Catherine’s Church in Hillside, where he was accused of abusing another girl between 1960 and 1962. That claim was settled in January 2020.

Paterson School District (Rosa L. Parks School of Fine and Performing Arts and Paterson’s School 8)

• In February 2025, a $1.25 million settlement was awarded to a woman who was allegedly sexually abused multiple times by former Rosa Parks School security guard, Rashawn McGuire. The first instance of abuse allegedly happened during the 2012-13 academic year, when the security guard arranged to be alone with the girl, 15 at the time, in the school auditorium, by telling her she was supposed to meet her dance teacher there.  The security guard allegedly then pulled his pants down, told the student to do the same, and had intercourse with her in the auditorium. The girl allegedly reported the incident to a teacher, but no action was taken. According to her lawsuit, the security guard sexually abused the student six or seven times in the school auditorium. McGuire was found guilty of criminal sexual contact and sentenced to five years of probation after spending 210 days in jail while the charges against him were pending.

• Also in February 2025, a student who was allegedly sexually abused by former gym teacher, Edward Clarke, at Paterson’s School 8 was awarded a $337,500 settlement.  Clarke allegedly hugged the victim from behind and touched her breasts. In 2016, Clarke was indicted on second-degree sexual assault charges. In 2019, he pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree crime of abuse of a child.

South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education (Columbia High School)

• In January 2025, the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education settled two out of eight lawsuits for a total of $550,000 over sexual abuse allegations against former Columbia High School teacher Nicole Dufault. Dufault was accused of sexually abusing six boys, ages 14 to 15, multiple times between 2013 and 2014. In 2020, she pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact. The lawsuits alleged school officials ignored reports of her misconduct. Both cases also alleged racial discrimination, asserting that the teacher specifically targeted Black male students with disabilities.  In 2024, another lawsuit was filed, and five cases were consolidated and put on hold pending an appeal.

Edison School District (Edison High School)

• In November 2024, the Edison School District settled one of nine lawsuits for $3 million with a former student who alleged he was sexually abused by former Edison High School woodshop teacher, Fredrick Burkley, in the 1980s. Burkley allegedly abused him multiple times when he was between 13 and 15 years old.  In 2020, the victim sued the school district, alleging it was negligent and failed to prevent the abuse. In 1986, Burkley was arrested and he pleaded guilty to the charges. According to all nine lawsuits, he allegedly sexually abused 9 teenage boys at Edison High School.

Camden City School District (Cooper B. Hatch Middle School)

• In June 2024, the Camden City School District reached a settlement of $2 million with a former student who alleged she was sexually abused by Wasim Muhammad. a teacher who became the president of the school’s advisory board. Muhammad allegedly sexually assaulted the plaintiff starting when she was 14 at Cooper B. Hatch Middle School in the 1990s. Muhammad denied the allegations and claimed that the plaintiff became one of his many spiritual wives when she turned 18.

Fort Lee School District and and the Fort Lee Board of Education (Lewis F. Cole Middle School)

• In March 2024, two former students filed a lawsuit against the Fort Lee School District and Board of Education, alleging they ignored their pleas for help after being sexually abused by a former special education math teacher at Lewis F. Cole Middle School. One of the victims alleged she was harassed, touched inappropriately, and subjected to lewd comments starting in 2017 when she was 13 years old. The other victim alleged the teacher harassed her in 2012 when she was 12 years old and that she complained about his abuse at the same time.  Eventually, in 2018, the teacher was found guilty in municipal court of harassment for offensive touching.

Winslow Board of Education (Edgewood High School)

• In February 2024, the Winslow Board of Education settled a lawsuit for $6 million filed by two students who alleged they were sexually assaulted for years, in 1998 and 2003, by Nicholas Zaccaria, a former social studies teacher and theater adviser at Edgewood High School, now known as Winslow Township High School.  Both men claimed they were targeted by Zaccaria for sex abuse. They said he took them separately to dinner at fancy steakhouses and Italian restaurants and gave them money from the stage crew’s petty cash account.

Weehawken School District (Woodrow Wilson Junior High School)

• In October 2023, the Weehawken School District agreed to pay $700,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former student who alleged he was sexually abused by former Woodrow Wilson Junior High School art teacher Janis Maltin over 13 months in 1979 and 1980, when he was 14 and 15 years old.  The abuse allegedly happened at school, in Maltin’s apartment, and in another teacher’s apartment.  Maltin went by her maiden name, Tepe, at the time of the sexual abuse.

Archdiocese of Newark (Paramus Catholic High School)

• In May 2023, Levy Konigsberg filed lawsuits on behalf of former students against the Paramus Catholic High School, the Archdiocese of Newark, and the Christian Brothers.  Four victims alleged they were sexually abused by Bernard Garris, a former hockey coach at Paramus Catholic High School, and two of the lawsuits also accuse former gym teacher Donn Ernst of sexual abuse. All four plaintiffs said they were abused throughout their four years in high school. The suits say the former students were abused on school grounds and on school-sanctioned athletic trips. The suits further claim that Paramus Catholic, the archdiocese and the Christian Brothers covered up the abuse for years and refused to take steps to stop the abuse by Garris and Ernst. At least 11 other former students have accused Garris of sexual abuse.

Clinton Township School District

• In December 2021, two former students sued the Clinton Township School District, alleging they were sexually abused by a former teacher in the 1970s.  Earlier in 2021, six other students filed lawsuits alleging they were abused by a different teacher in the 1960s and 1970s.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District (Terrill Middle School)

• In November 2021, a former student from Terrill Middle School sued the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District and the New Jersey Department of Education, alleging she was sexually abused by a teacher more than 160 times in the 1970s.  The abuse allegedly happened in the classroom and a laboratory storage room when she was 13 to 14 years old.  The victim allegedly reported the abuse to her guidance counselor, but no action was taken, and the abuse continued.

The Pingry School

• In November 2021, a man sued two private schools, a day camp, and the estate of Bruce Bohrer, a former wood-shop teacher, alleging he was sexually abused by Bohrer at the Pingry School in Basking Ridge.  The abuse allegedly occurred repeatedly during the 1981–1982 school year, starting when the victim was 8 years old. Employees and agents allegedly knew about the abuse but didn’t report it to the authorities. Bohrer was named in a private investigator’s report as one of three teachers who abused dozens of children at Pingry.

Waldwick School District (Waldwick High School and Mahwah High School)

• In April 2021, Levy Konigsberg filed lawsuits on behalf of three former students against the Waldwick School District, alleging sexual abuse by former Waldwick High School former substitute teacher and lunchroom monitor, Michael Healy, in the 1980s. Healy allegedly molested the victims in bathrooms, hallways and on class trips.  The allegations in the three suits follow a similar pattern, claiming abuse throughout the ’80s. Healy allegedly told one boy that he “had a nice body and that he was very fit,” and allegedly stalked the victim around the school, following him into bathrooms and touching him inappropriately. Another former student alleged Healy cornered him in the boys’ bathroom sometime during 1987 and tried to grope him while using the urinal.

• In August 2021, Levy Konigsberg filed a lawsuit on behalf of a fourth student who alleged that Healy sexually abused him at Mahwah High School. Healy allegedly targeted this male student in the school’s theater program, where Healy directed plays in 1989. According to the lawsuit, one day after rehearsal, Healy offered the student a ride home. But during the trip, Healy allegedly touched the boy inappropriately and performed oral sex on him.

Englewood School District (Engle Street School and Dwight Morrow High School)

• In February 2021, Levy Konigsberg filed a lawsuit against the Englewood School District on behalf of a former student who claimed to be sexually abused by a teacher, Mr. Durkin, at Engle Street School in the 1960s. According to the lawsuit, the abuse began in 1967 when the student was in the sixth grade and was one of about six selected to go on an overnight trip to Montreal. The plaintiff alleges that during the trip, the teacher tackled him and held him down. The abusive behavior allegedly continued when they returned to Englewood, until 1972, when Durkin talked the student into taking a series of nude photographs. The photo sessions continued and Durkin allegedly took photos of him engaging in sex acts alone and with Durkin. According to the lawsuit, in 1973, there was a break-in at Durkin’s apartment, the photos were discovered and Durkin was criminally charged. The lawsuit further alleges that around the same time, another teacher at Dwight Morrow High School, where he was then a student, cornered him in a classroom and fondled his genitals.

Saint Thomas Aquinas High School

• In May 2025, Axel Palomares, a Spanish teacher and soccer coach at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with creating and possessing child sexual abuse material, child endangerment, and invasion of privacy.  From April 2022 to at least March 2025, Palomares reportedly sexually abused students and taped the abuse in his classroom.  According to law enforcement, Palomares secretly photographed and filmed images of unaware undergarment-clad children and students in compromising positions at the school and at stores and restrooms at Bridgewater and Short Hills malls.

LK is Investigating Sexual Abuse Claims in New Jersey Schools

Levy Konigsberg is investigating cases of sexual abuse and assault that occurred at New Jersey schools.

You may have a potential claim if you were sexually abused in any of the following schools, archdioceses, or districts:

• Anna C. Scott Elementary School
• Archdiocese of Newark (Paramus Catholic High School)
• Camden City School District (Cooper B. Hatch Middle School)
• Cherry Hill Board of Education (James F. Cooper Elementary School)
• Clinton Township School District
• Edison School District (Edison High School)
• Englewood School District (Engle Street School and Dwight Morrow High School)
• Fort Lee School District and the Fort Lee Board of Education (Lewis F. Cole Middle School)
• Hillsdale Public Schools (George White Elementary School)
• Lacey Township Board of Education (Forked River Elementary School and Lanoka Harbor Elementary School)
• Lawrence Township School District (Myron L. Powell Elementary School)
• OCVTS Performing Arts School
• Paterson School District (Rosa L. Parks School of Fine and Performing Arts and Paterson’s School 8)
• Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District (Terrill Middle School)
• Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
• South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education (Columbia High School)
• The Pingry School
• Waldwick School District (Waldwick High School and Mahwah High School)
• Weehawken School District (Woodrow Wilson Junior High School)
• Winslow Board of Education (Edgewood High School, now Winslow Township High School)

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if:

• You were sexually abused by a teacher or staff at a school.
• The abuse occurred at any school.

Levy Konigsberg represents survivors in civil lawsuits that aim to hold schools accountable for their failures to stop abusive teachers and staff.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged with or convicted of a crime.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

New Jersey Sexual Abuse Attorneys

In New Jersey, the statute of limitations previously imposed a strict deadline for victims of sexual abuse to file claims or seek compensation. However, recognizing the lasting impact of sexual abuse and the obstacles survivors face in pursuing justice, the state enacted the Child Victims Act in 2019. This landmark legislation significantly extended the statute of limitations for civil sexual abuse cases. The law provides more opportunities for victims to seek justice and compensation, acknowledging the complexities and challenges associated with reporting and prosecuting sexual abuse.

Under New Jersey law, specifically NJ Stat. § 2A:14-2a, survivors of sexual abuse now have an extended timeframe to pursue legal action.  Childhood sexual abuse victims can file civil claims until age 55 or seven years after recognizing the trauma, whichever is later. This allows survivors to seek justice against their abusers and any liable institutions. For those sexually abused as adults (age 18 or older), the deadline to file a civil lawsuit is seven years from the incident of abuse.

Seeking legal guidance is crucial when navigating the complexities of the statute of limitations. Your attorney can review your case, explain the statute of limitations to you, and assist you in determining if you are eligible to file a lawsuit.

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating allegations of sexual abuse in New Jersey Catholic Schools and other New Jersey schools.

We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and seeking justice for survivors of sexual abuse in schools. Our experienced team is dedicated to providing legal representation and support to survivors, and we are actively investigating allegations of abuse. We are working tirelessly to ensure that survivors have access to justice and that future generations of young people are safe from harm within these institutions.