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A New Jersey teacher accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy reportedly exchanged 25,000 explicit texts with the victim, say prosecutors.
Former Freehold Intermediate School teacher Allison Havemann-Niedrach, 44, of Ocean County, Jackson, was charged Tuesday with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child via the manufacturing of child sexual abuse materials, two counts of second-degree endangering, official misconduct, and sexual assault, as well as third-degree endangering, according to a Monmouth County Prosecutors Office release.
Havemann-Niedrach, a special education teacher, is alleged to have abused a 15-year-old boy since the beginning of last year. She was formerly arrested in June 2024.
Upon handing his mobile phone over to authorities, police discovered over 25,000 lurid photo and video text exchanges between him and Havemann-Niedrach, according to Asbury Park Press.
Crucially, a video was found of the pair engaging in sexual conduct.
The alleged victim told investigators that the sexual relationship began in January 2024 with incidents taking place both at Havemann-Niedrach’s home and in hotels.
Authorities were reportedly able to corroborate the alleged events by tracking cell phone data and financial records, according to assistant prosecutor Danielle Zanzuccki.
Alarm bells initially rang out when staff members at Freehold Intermediate noticed the 44-year-old woman bringing the teenage boy food and sitting with him daily for lunch in a classroom, shared Zanzuccki.
Zanzuccki, who heads the Special Victims Bureau, previously said Havemann-Niedrach was “obsessed” with the teen during a detention hearing in July 2024.
One teacher reportedly saw the suspect touching the alleged victims’ back, neck, and leg, and said the interaction between her colleague and the eighth-grader had been “flirtatious”, according to Zanzuccki as per Asbury Press.
A vice-principal raised the suspicions to the police at the start of June 2024.
Later, as authorities investigated the matter, the alleged victim’s mother disclosed to investigators that she held concerns about her son’s sudden inwardness.
The 15-year-old would reportedly sit inside Havemann-Niedrach’s car, according to his sister, and was frequently staying up late to go on his phone, shared the assistant prosecutor.
He also reportedly told a friend he had been dating a teacher, as per Asbury Press.
Yet upon being confronted about the matter, the boy denied all involvement and tried to deflect from the allegations by stating he had been dating Havemann-Niedrach’s daughter, shared authorities.
The police then witnessed the barrage of text exchanges on his device.
Days later, the victim’s mother alerted authorities that her son had confessed to being in a sexual relationship with the teacher, 30 years his senior.
The alleged victim was taken to hospital for evaluation following concerns over his mental health, shared Zanzuccki.
At her second court appearance in August 2024, the disgraced teacher was reportedly accompanied by her husband and elderly parents, all of whom sat in silence during the legal proceedings, reported local outlet Jersey Shore online.
Before facing the allegations, Havemann-Niedrach was an active member of the local community. In 2017 she was one of ten young female leaders awarded by the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore as “Phenomenal Women Under 40”, reported the outlet.
A spokesperson since relinquished any ties with the suspect since the allegations arose, writing: “We want to make it unequivocally clear that Ms. Havemann-Niedrach is no longer associated with Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore.”
She was released from the Monmouth County Jail in July and placed on home detention, reported the Asbury Press.
A judge reportedly barred her from having any contact with any minors, except her own two young daughters. When the allegations broke, and Havemann-Niedrach was arrested, her husband Eric Niedrach launched a desperate plea for funds titled “Help provide normalcy” to keep the family afloat.
However, his plea for emergency funds has been unsuccessful and only $75 of his $4,000 target has been raised since it was launched on July 27 2024. Eric Niedrach also shared in an update in October that one of the girls had been placed in the care of her biological father and he was granted weekly visitations while court proceedings were ongoing.
His wife was also prohibited from accessing computers to remove any possibility of communication with the alleged victim.
An investigation by the Special Victims Bureau of the prosecutor’s office and the Freehold Police Department is ongoing.
Anyone with information about Havemann-Niedrach’s activities is still urged to contact MCPO Detective Dawn Correia at 800-533-7443.
The Independent contacted the Freehold Intermediate School and Havemann-Niedrach’s lawyer for comment.
