BERKELEY – A teacher is suing the family of a student who he said has spread intimate photos and texts from a private account of his that she was not supposed to have access to. These files have caused him to be put on leave from the district and lose his coaching positions.
This newspaper will not repeat the teacher’s name because accusing someone of a crime is illegal. We will also not use the names of the parents of the child who are named in the suit, because it would be easy to discern the identity of the juvenile.
The Toms River resident teaches history at Central Regional High School and is the head women’s volleyball coach at Ocean County College, as well as the former head varsity volleyball coach for Central’s boys’ team and the current head varsity basketball coach for the girls’ team. The head coaching positions were rescinded after the accusations.
The lawsuit states that the teacher provided the student with access to the Central girls basketball Instagram account to allow her to post. However, she was able to access his personal account, which was set to private, although he said he never shared his username or password. The personal account had messages and elicit photos between himself and other adults. These were then spread throughout the school. Within weeks, documents were shared online claiming these were between a teacher and a student, not another adult.
This occurred on or about Saturday, January 31, and he has been on leave since Monday, February 2.
If he loses his job, he could face a loss of about $80,000. His stipend for the coaching positions are approximately $6,300 for boys’ volleyball, $10,000 for girls basketball, and $7,000 for women’s volleyball at OCC.
Additionally, the teacher co-founded a nonprofit called “The Kivu Project,” building schools and providing aid in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He says that the accusations have hindered fundraising.
He and his attorney sent a letter to defendants requesting a written retraction and public correction, removal of all screenshots or reposts under their control, and identification of who they were sent to. He wanted written confirmation that no further dissemination would occur.
He is seeking legal fees and $1 million for each of the following counts: “defamation per se,” “libel and libel per se,” “abuse of process/malicious prosecution/false reporting,” “making a private matter public,” “invasion of privacy,” “invasion of privacy – false light,” “invasion of privacy – intrusion of seclusion,” “tortious interference with present and prospective business relations,” “harassment,” and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
A Facebook page, Jersey Coast Emergency News, shared screenshots of a conversation of a sexual nature and claimed it was between a student and this teacher. They named the teacher and posted his photo.
The teacher’s lawyer also wrote to the administrators of Jersey Coast Emergency News to remove all accusations from the Facebook page, as well as cease and desist from further accusations. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, was also notified.
He is represented by Sanvenero & Cittadino of Shrewsbury, which did not respond to questions from this newspaper.
Reactions To Incident
About two dozen students protested outside the high school when the accusations against the teacher were made. They spoke to this reporter about what they witnessed. They called for the removal of the teacher and criticized the district for their response.
“This isn’t his first time being accused of predatory behavior,” one student said. “Central only started speaking about it when we made them.”
This student said that the teacher took inappropriate photos of himself in what was recognized from the background as a school bathroom. When they told staff about it, they were told that they were ruining his image.
“The school encourages us to speak up but always silences us because their reputation and to make us sound crazy,” said another student.
At the next Board of Education meeting, parents said their daughter had problems with this teacher doing such things as rating girls’ bodies, even going so far as to say he was “grooming” the students.
Superintendent Dr. Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder told the media that she is doing her due diligence and passing all information on to the proper authorities, including Berkeley Police and the Institutional Abuse Unit for review. No charges have been filed.
JerseyShoreOnline.com reached out to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office about the allegations when they were first made. Generally, law enforcement agencies don’t comment on investigations – or even if an investigation exists. However, they responded “We can confirm that there is no active investigation, nor are we aware of any allegation that a teacher at Central Regional High School was engaged in a sexual relationship with a student.”
During the Board of Education meeting following the allegations, the superintendent said “Social media is many things, but one thing it is generally not is a source of verified facts…I ask our community to trust in the process, a process that prioritizes truth over speed, facts over speculation, and the protection of all involved over the satisfaction of curiosity.
“If anyone in our community has factual information or evidence regarding any concern affecting our students, I encourage you, I urge you, to bring it forward through the appropriate channels. My door is open. Our administrative team is accessible. We take every concern seriously, and we will act on credible information with the urgency and thoroughness it deserves,” she said.
The situation has renewed criticism of the Jersey Coast Emergency News Facebook page, which has recently come under fire for spreading misinformation. In a recent incident, the page reported an explosion at a store in Wall Township. The police later issued a statement on their own social media channels clarifying that no explosion had occurred. Also, in November of 2025, the Ashley Lauren Foundation, who had been allowed access to posting on the page, had to issue a statement cutting ties with them.
