English teacher from Point Pleasant admits to having an affair with teen student: Cops

Erik Larsen, Asbury Park Press
·3 min read
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UPPER FREEHOLD — Near a bank on the Assunpink Lake, an English teacher at Hamilton High School West and one of her students were discovered in the back of the teen’s car in “states of undress,” by officers from New Jersey Fish and Wildlife on Sunday, officials said.

After teacher Jessica L. Sawicki, 37, of Point Pleasant, was read her Miranda rights, she admitted to Detective Kyle T. Clugston that she and the teen had been meeting often to have sex – at least five times since December – at the same place in the 6,393-acre state-owned wildlife management area, according to the affidavit of probable cause that outlined the charges.

The intercourse had been unprotected and always took place inside the student’s car, she told State Police.

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Although the affidavit is redacted to protect the identity of the victim, the teen is referenced numerous times as being at least 16 but not yet 18. Sawicki is described as having “supervisory or disciplinary power” over the student and is accused of engaging “in sexual conduct which would impair or debauch the morals” of a child.

A teacher since September 2013, Sawicki is charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault and five counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago.

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The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office is handling the case as the alleged crimes were committed within its jurisdiction, about a 20-minute drive from the Hamilton High School campus, just outside Trenton, in neighboring Mercer County. Sawicki would have had to have driven 40 minutes from her home in coastal Ocean County to rendezvous with the student at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area.

An aerial view of the 225-acre Assunpink Lake within the larger Assunpink Wildlife Management Area in western Monmouth County, which consists of 6,393 acres of fields, hedgerows, woods and wetlands.
An aerial view of the 225-acre Assunpink Lake within the larger Assunpink Wildlife Management Area in western Monmouth County, which consists of 6,393 acres of fields, hedgerows, woods and wetlands.

If convicted on all counts, Sawicki could spend the rest of her life in state prison. She remained in the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township on Thursday night, pending a detention hearing expected next week.

In a statement posted on the school district’s website Tuesday, Superintendent Scott R. Rocco and Principal Brian E. Smith said that Sawicki had been placed on administrative leave from her more than $40,000-a-year position.

“The alleged incident goes against our professional standards as a school district and is far removed from the expectations we have for the personal conduct of an employee,” the statement said. “We have no tolerance for any actions that harm or could potentially harm our students. The actions of one staff member do not represent the hard work and dedication of our entire school community.”

The administrators said the school district “fully cooperated with the prosecutor’s office during their investigation and will continue to do so, as needed.”

There was no indication any of the alleged misconduct took place on school property, Rocco and Smith said.

Two mobile phones and an Apple Watch were seized in the investigation, according to the affidavit.

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ teacher from Pt. Pleasant admits to affair with teen student: Cops