A group of New Jersey school staffers allegedly hosted and participated in disturbing “pedophile parties,” including a paraprofessional accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an underage student, according to a recently resurfaced lawsuit.
The Pinelands Regional School District paraprofessional and other staff members participated in more than one dress as your “favorite pedophile” party around August 2023, according to the suit filed in Ocean County by an ex-district employee obtained by The Post.
More details on what the parties entailed were not included in the court doc. Still, the revolting theme alone proved the male paraprofessional displayed an “egregious glorification of pedophiles,” Melissa Pomphrey, a former special education teacher at the district, said in her wrongful termination lawsuit.
Pomphrey accused the paraprofessional of being a pedophile himself and said he “would frequently invite this underage student to hang out with him after school,” according to the lawsuit, which was recirculated by multiple news outlets this week.
The staff member also endangered the female student, who was a junior at the school, by bringing her around an 18-year-old autistic male student in a special needs classroom who could be “sexually violent toward females,” the ex-teacher alleged.
Pomphrey said she reported the shocking get-togethers to the administration, as well as what she believed to be an illegal relationship between the female student and the paraprofessional, according to the suit.
After conducting a “sham” investigation, Pinelands Regional administrators reassigned Pomphrey to a middle school classroom from her high school class, which was widely considered a demotion, while the alleged creep staffer stayed employed, court documents said.
“Therefore, it was abundantly clear that Defendants [Pinelands’ administrators] assigned Plaintiff (Pomphrey) this classroom in pure retaliation for her complaints of the unlawful, unsafe, and neglectful environment fostered by Defendants,” the lawsuit claimed.
After the alleged retaliation, Pomphrey began to experience severe anxiety and depression over her demotion, according to the filing.
She spent her entire summer, between May and September 2024, suffering from anxiety, depression, nausea, and uncontrollable vomiting from the stress of the ordeal, the lawsuit continued.
Pomphrey reportedly continued to make repeated requests for administrators to take her complaints about the paraprofessional’s conduct seriously, but the district “continued to sweep the same under the rug in an effort to force Plaintiff out of her position.”
By November, her symptoms had become distressing enough that her doctor and psychiatrist placed her on a disability leave of absence — which she took unpaid, the filing said.
While on medical leave, Pomphrey was told her contract with the district would not be renewed, which the lawsuit argues was discrimination based on her medical condition and retaliation for her complaints.
The veteran special needs teacher is seeking reinstatement, back pay, legal fees, and court-ordered training for district officials on discrimination and retaliation in the lawsuit filed in late August.
The lawsuit names the school district as well as High School Principal Troy Henderson, Director of Special Services Marisa Elwood, and special education teacher Scott Beaton.
Pomphrey’s attorney, Matthew A. Luber, and the Pinelands Regional School District did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Court documents show the district has repeatedly denied Pomphrey’s claims.
In a previous statement to NJ.com, the district said it would not “dignify the baseless lawsuit.”
“The Pinelands Regional School District takes all matters involving the safety and well-being of our students with the utmost seriousness. However, we will not dignify this baseless lawsuit with a response,” Pinelands Regional School District Superintendent Melissa A. McCooley told the outlet.
A trial date has not yet been set for the case.
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