'Obsessed' ex-special education teacher indicted on child sex crimes, allegedly exchanged 25,000 messages with student​



A former New Jersey special education teacher has been indicted on seven counts of child sex crimes against an eighth-grade student in her class, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced the indictment against Allison Havemann-Niedrach, a 44-year-old former teacher and mother of two from Jackson.

'I don't have the vocabulary to describe how serious and disturbing it is.'

Havemann-Niedrach was charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child via the manufacture of child sexual abuse materials, second-degree official misconduct, second-degree sexual assault, third-degree endangering, and two counts of second-degree endangering.

In July 2024, a judge placed Allison Havemann-Niedrach in home detention and ordered her to have no contact with minors except her own two children, who are ages 5 and 12.

Havemann-Niedrach previously had been employed since 2022 as a special education teacher at Freehold Intermediate School, which educates students in grades six through eight.

As Blaze News previously reported, Havemann-Niedrach is accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy starting in January 2024 until her arrest in June 2024.

According to the Asbury Park Press, Superior Court Judge Vincent N. Falcetano said during a detention hearing in July 2024: "Clearly, this is a very, very serious and disturbing offense."

"I don't have the vocabulary to describe how serious and disturbing it is," Falcetano stated. "It's predatory, it is a breach of trust, it crosses the line. As a special education teacher, she should have known that line is even closer than for a regular teacher."

The Monmouth County Prosecutor Special Victims Bureau and the Freehold Police Department reportedly discovered more than 25,000 text messages between the teacher and the student.

According to assistant Monmouth County prosecutor Danielle Zanzuccki, the investigation allegedly uncovered thousands of text messages between Havemann-Niedrach and the 15-year-old student, which included the exchange of sexually illicit photos and videos.

School officials allegedly observed Havemann-Niedrach bringing the student food and eating lunch with him daily in a classroom. The teacher allegedly gave the boy gifts.

During the detention hearing, Zanzuccki said Havemann-Niedrach was "obsessed" with the boy.

Investigators claimed that the ex-teacher engaged in illegal sexual acts with the alleged victim at her house and at hotels.

Zanzuccki said investigators learned that the alleged victim told a friend that he was dating a teacher.

The teen's mother allegedly contacted investigators to inform them that her son admitted to her that he had been in a sexual relationship with Havemann-Niedrach, Zanzuccki said.

Asia Michael — the superintendent of the Freehold Borough School District — sent an email to staff and parents in June 2024 regarding the arrest of someone described as a "former staff member."

"It is with a heavy heart that I must share some distressing news with you,'' the email read. "We have been informed that a former staff member has been arrested on allegations of third-degree aggravated sexual assault and inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor."

Anyone with any information about the alleged teacher sex scandal is urged to contact Detective Dawn Correia of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office at 800-533-7443.

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NJ school district drops transgender policy mandating that officials 'accept a student's asserted gender identity'



A New Jersey school district has abolished its policy on transgender students, which had mandated that officials “shall accept a student’s asserted gender identity; parental consent is not required," NJ.com reported.

What are the details?

The Freehold Township Board of Education voted 6-3 last week to throw out the policy, which also said students don't need to meet “any threshold diagnosis or treatment requirements” in order for district officials and staff members to recognize their gender identities, the outlet noted.

Freehold board president Michelle Lambert confirmed the vote to the outlet but did not specify why the policy was abolished: “Each board member voted for various reasons."

Superintendent Neal Dickstein in a letter sent to families the day after the vote said “a great deal of misinformation” was circulating about the policy, NJ.com said, adding that Dickstein didn't cite specific examples.

He did say that the abolished policy “does not translate to the forced outing of children as it is being interpreted by some,” the outlet added.

NJ.com said Freehold joined a number of other districts in the state that have "controversially" revised or dropped their transgender student policies.

In Union Township in Hunterdon County, the school board on Monday conducted a first reading of a motion to abolish the district’s policy on transgender students, the outlet said, adding that board president Lou Palma said the second reading will take place in December.

NJ.com said at least five other districts in New Jersey also recently dropped their policies on transgender students.

More from the outlet:

The changes come as state Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Sundeep Iyer, the director of the state Division on Civil Rights, are pursuing lawsuits against four school districts that passed policies requiring school staff to notify parents about gender-related requests and changes.

How are folks reacting?

A couple of commenters weighed in on the NJ.com story about the Freehold district abolishing its transgender student policy, with one noting succinctly on X: "Good."

Another commenter criticized the wording of the story: "You can tell where the writer stands as they frame the droppin[g] of the policy as controversial. Objectively though, by the definition of controversy, the policy itself is equally if not more controversial than dropping it. Yet only one action is framed as controversial."

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