NJ.COM: Parents of Girl Groomed by NJ Teacher Plan to Sue for $10 Million

[Summary of May 14, 2025 http://NJ.com article by Anthony Attrino]

The parents of a 14-year-old girl plan to sue the Glen Ridge School District in Essex County for $10 million, claiming an elementary school teacher groomed their daughter into a relationship for more than three years.

According to the family’s attorney, Justin L. Drazin, the teacher sent the child up to 10 communications a day in the form of emails, text messages, voice memos, and handwritten notes, some of which were found in [a] journal [at Ridgewood Avenue School in Glen Ridge].

“(The teacher) intentionally manipulated and coerced a minor into a criminal, non-consensual relationship,” Drazin states in the notice of tort claim.

The alleged activity occurred from September 2021, when the girl was 11, and ended in March [2025] after the journal was found.

The journal has since been turned over to law enforcement.

The teacher has not been charged, but the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Glen Ridge Police Department are investigating, according to Drazin.

Drazin filed a notice of tort claim against the district on Monday.

Detectives are working with the state’s Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit to determine if the girl had been sexually abused, Drazin said.

Drazin said the child’s parents were unaware of the level of involvement or communication between the teacher and the student.

He said he believes other staffers at the school were aware of the teacher’s behavior, because when they told him it was unacceptable, he began meeting the student in public places.

Read the full article here: N.J. teacher groomed student for years, beginning when she was 11, family claims