The parents of a 14-year-old New Jersey girl reportedly molested by her female teacher and mentor are now suing – and have released disturbing new details of how the educator allegedly groomed their daughter with sex talk, and then groped her breasts in a school hallway.
The accusations have ripped the Marlboro, N.J. community apart, enraging some parents who claim the district and police mishandled the case and were slow to act.
Jenna Sciabica, a special education language arts teacher, fondled the girl on March 13 in Marlboro Memorial Middle School, the family alleged in court papers filed May 1 in Monmouth County Superior Court.
The pupil was walking to class when Sciabica “just happened to be standing in the doorway of her own classroom” and called the student over, the family claimed.
The teen walked over to Sciabica, “who then began fondling and rubbing the girl’s breast withone hand. She was poking, touching, massaging, and rubbing the breast,” according to the court papers
The teacher then took the back of her hand and placed it on the girl’s forehead “to imply [the girl] was getting hot.”
Sciabica then “used both of her hands, and began rubbing . . . poking,and inappropriately touching both of [the teen’s] breasts,” the family alleged.
“As this was occurring, Jenna Sciabica had a gratifying smile on her face while [the teen] wasfrozen still, with her hands at her side completely frozen in shock,” according to court papers.
The girl then blocked Sciabica’s hands, “pulling them off her breasts,” and ran down the hallway, where another teacher who witnessed the incident heard Sciabica yell for the girl to “come back here I want to feel and touch them again.”
The assault “was . . . caught entirely on camera,” according to the filing.
Sciabica “was already familiar” with the girl because she had been tutoring her younger siblings, who have special needs, for more than a year, the family said in the complaint.
The teacher also “would routinely and openly engage in sexually explicit and flirtatious conversations with female students at the school in her classroom and in front of other teachers,” the family contended.
Another girl, who has not joined the lawsuit, claimed Sciabica repeatedly tried to get her phone number, the filing claims.
The teacher also “would routinely and openly engage in sexually explicit and flirtatious conversations with female students at the school in her classroom and in front of other teachers,” the family contended.
That student alleged Sciabica would discuss other teachers’ and men’s penis sizes and “would openly talk about her own sex life to her 10-14 year old students,” the complaint says.
The second girl reported Sciabica’s “inappropriate conversations” to the school guidance counselor, but nothing was done, the family charged.
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Sciabica is a “predator,” the alleged victim’s mother told the Marlboro Board of Education at its April 16 public meeting. The board, the mom alleged, “failed to prevent the atrocity that happened down that hallway.”