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A married teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage student has been released on bail to take care of her children. It has been revealed that her colleagues had warned her about the boy.
Jessica Sawicki, a special needs teacher aged 37, was caught putting her clothes back on in the back seat of the student’s car on April 7 by a staff member at a wildlife park near Trenton, New Jersey.
During a detention hearing on Wednesday, it was disclosed that she had confessed to engaging in inappropriate behavior as far back as January, prompted by concerns expressed by staff at Hamilton High School West to the principal.
Her husband Michael was in court to see her freed from jail on bail to help look after their five-year-old daughter and two-year-old son.
‘They don’t know where their mom is right now and it’s getting hard to explain that to them at home,’ defense attorney Edward Cridge remarked.
Sawicki shook her head as prosecutor Keri-Leigh Schaefer told the court: ‘The victim quickly put on his pants and the defendant pulled up her skirt’
Jessica Sawicki (pictured), 37, an English and special needs teacher at a New Jersey high school has been accused of having a sexual relationship with a student
Sawicki and the student are alleged to have had several trysts in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, a nature preserve
Monmouth County prosecutor Keri-Leigh Schaefer told the court that Sawicki and the boy were spotted when an officer from New Jersey Fish and Wildlife found her car blocking an entrance to the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area in Upper Freehold.
‘The lieutenant observed the victim’s vehicle parked directly behind the defendant’s SUV,’ she explained.
‘When the lieutenant approached the cars, he observed the 17-year-old victim and the defendant in the back seat of the victim’s car.
‘The victim quickly put on his pants and the defendant pulled up her skirt.
‘This interaction is captured on the lieutenant’s body worn camera footage.’
In a since-deleted school profile, Sawicki explained how she ‘truly enjoys getting to know the students’.
‘This is my 7th year working at Hamilton West teaching English,’ she noted.
‘I truly enjoy getting to know the students here and helping them become the best versions of themselves while they strive for their futures.’
Sawicki (pictured) and the teenaged student are alleged to have had sex in the teenager’s car
Hamilton High School West, where Sawicki taught English, put the teacher on administrative leave after they learned of the investigation
Following her arrest, the school district wrote to parents informing them that she had been placed on ‘administrative leave’ in light of the police investigation.
‘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,’ principal Brian E Smith wrote.
‘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 community.’
But Schaefer told the court that Sawicki had already been placed on administrative leave back in January after ignoring a warning from Smith about appropriate ‘boundaries’.
Challenged about the amount of time she was spending with him, she admitted giving him gifts and preferential treatment, including passes to get out of class, Schaefer said.
Sawicki had previously taught the boy’s older brother, who asked her to look out for him because he had troubled background and was struggling in school.
She told detectives that she exchanged phone numbers with the boy when he was a junior and had met up with him at Assunpink Lake at least 10 times by the time he was in his senior year.
Half of those meetings resulted in unprotected sex or other sexual activity Schaefer told the court.
‘As the adult in the situation, as a teacher at the high school, she was in a position of power and authority over this child student,’ the prosecutor said.
‘And she used that position of power and authority to begin a relationship with him.’
But Sawacki’s attorney pointed out that the student has refused to co-operate with the investigation, and described his relationship with the teacher as ‘affectional, not anything impulsive or predatory’.
Brian Smith and Scott Rocco, the respective principal and superintendent at Hamilton High School West, put out a statement that said that the school ‘took immediate action’ after learning of the investigation. The statement noted that there was ‘no indication’ that any of the alleged incidents took place on school property
‘Her husband is present today in the courtroom,’ he observed.
‘Obviously, this is a difficult thing for any couple to go through, but he’s here in support of his wife, in support of their family.’
Superior Court Judge Richard W English agreed to free her on bail from Monmouth County Jail on condition she have no contact with the teenager or any unsupervised contact with any minors other than her own.
Sawicki has been charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault and five counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and is due back in court on May 30.
