Ex-Student Sues Maplewood Schools Over Teacher Sex Crimes: Report

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — A former student in the South Orange-Maplewood School District filed suit last Wednesday against the district, saying he's one of six victims of former teacher Nicole Dufault, who in January 2020 pleaded guilty to having had sex with students, NorthJersey.com reported on Monday.

Dufault, a former Columbia High School language arts teacher, pleaded guilty in January 2020 to three counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact after previously having been accused of engaging in sexual activity with six boys in 2013 and 2014. READ MORE: Former Maplewood Teacher Pleads Guilty To Sex Charges

Dufault had worked at Columbia High School in Maplewood for nine years, and also taught at public schools in Passaic and Bergen counties, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

On Monday, NorthJersey.com reported that, in the new suit filed in Essex County Superior Court last week, the male plaintiff said he was freshman and sophomore at Columbia from 2013 to 2015, but ultimately dropped out of high school.

The suit says that the teacher would meet with students in a classroom and touch them in front of the group, NorthJersey.com reported. The plaintiff says in the suit that she performed a sex act on him while another student videotaped it, according to the news report.

The suit says that the former student has suffered panic attacks since then.

Dufault was sentenced in March 2021 to a suspended three-year sentence without prison time, says the NorthJersey story. She had to give up her teaching license, and must register as a sex offender under Megan's Law.

In 2015, according to NJ.com, Dufault said a brain condition affected her judgment. Her lawyer said she "suffers from frontal lobe syndrome which has rendered her defenseless to over-aggressive behavior… and that is exactly what she was exposed to." Those involved with the case also cited a difficult marital situation.

Read more on NorthJersey.com here.

Read prior reporting on Patch: Former Maplewood Teacher Pleads Guilty To Sex Charges

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