Former Morris County Coach Accused of Having Sex With Athlete, 14
Vctim has accused Jason Fennes of a sexual relationship while he was her track coach at Butler High.
A former Montville first-grade teacher who has been jailed on charges he allegedly sexually assaulted two of his students has now been accused of having a sexual relationship with a Butler High School track athlete he coached at the school in the mid-'90s and sexually assaulting two other students, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said Saturday.
According to a statement released by Capt. Jeffrey Paul, a spokesman for Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi, three more victims recently came forward, accusing Jason Fennes, 37, of Bloomfield, of sexual assault.
One victim alleged she and Fennes began having a sexual relationship when she was 14 and he was her high school track coach.
Fennes was employed by the Butler Board of Education as a track coach at Butler High from the fall of 1996 until he resigned on April 15, 1997, the prosecutor's office said.
Fennes was charged on Thursday with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child for the alleged relationship that lasted "several years," according to an arrest affidavit on file with the Morris County Court.
Fennes was also charged on Thursday with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child less than 13 years of age and two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly assaulting two Montville first-grade students he taught during the 2006-07 school year.
Judge David H. Ironson has set a blanket bail of $500,000 with no 10 percent option.
The latest victims came forward after hearing about the previous sexual assault allegations made in March against Fennes, the prosecutor's office said.
Fennes, a former Montville first-grade teacher at the William Mason School, was arrested on March 8 on charges of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. According to an affidavit filed with the Morris County Court, an investigation revealed Fennes allegedly sexually abused a girl in his first-grade class in 2005.
Fennes was released from jail on bail, but on March 12 was arrested a second time on charges he sexually assaulted a second student in his class during the 2006-07 school year.
Fennes worked in the Montville School District from September 1998 until he resigned in June 2010, according to district Superintendent Dr. Paul Fried.
Fennes has been remanded to the Morris County Correctional facility since the March 12 arrest.
Anyone with information regarding Fennes should contact the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes Unit at 973-285-6200 or the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Crime Stopper Program at 973-COPCALL.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the victim was 15 years old when the alleged sexual relationship began, based on information provided by the prosecutor's office. However, the victim was 14. An earlier version also inccorrectly stated Fennes was employed as a teacher at Butler High, based on information provided by the prosecutor's office. However, Fennes was only employed as the school's track coach.
In This article
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Butler High School
Bartholdi Ave, Butler, NJ -
William Mason Elementary School
5 Shawnee Trl, Montville, NJ -
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Anonymous
4:38 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012
Guess it isn't only "bottom feeding," outsourcing companies that have serious employee problems.
been there done that
12:02 am on Sunday, June 3, 2012
Anon...funny how those defenders of the unions don't cry bloody murder when stories like this show up....staggering cynicism....
Anonymous
12:19 am on Sunday, June 3, 2012
I prefer to call in Hypocrisy. If an outsourcing company had the same percentage of problems that NJEA members have, you'd be reading about them in the paper several times a week.
J
10:08 am on Sunday, June 3, 2012
Neither of you Christie-bots know what you are talking about. You are just spouting irrational hatred of unions. Teachers and coaches are hired and vetted by the school system, not the union. In no school system (for that matter, in no business) is hiring delegated to a union. So if you want to blame someone for hiring this miscreant, blame the school administrators. But before you do even that, you'd better have proof--these odd things called "facts," you may have heard of them in passing--that the administrators knew or should have known of this guy's proclivities.
Anonymous
12:55 pm on Sunday, June 3, 2012
You're wrong about no hiring being done by unions. Take a look at how construction workers, plumbers and electricians get selected on large job sites. The union leadership decides who works and who doesn't.
As for "hating" unions, NOT, but there are some who believe that school districts do a better job of hiring janitors than outsourcing companies. Stories like this one, which appear with much regularity, disprove that theory in spades.
been there done that
6:25 pm on Sunday, June 3, 2012
J
1. You're getting involved in comments that started during the custodian discussion. Some of the supporters of overpaying custodians were trying to spin the fact that Aramark has had several "miscreants", as you put it (perhaps Child molester is more appropriate?) and therefore shouldn't be hired. Anon and noted that if the standard for employees was "zero tolerance" we'd never hire anyone. Sadly, all the schools can do is perform appropriate background checks and provide proper monitoring.
2. The realm problem here is thatbpeople like you are knee-jerk union supporters. I would have no problem with workers organizing IF the process wasn't so monopolistic and political. And what purpose, exactly, do teacher unions serve besides jacking up salaries and benefits by paying off politicians? I mean, are teachers intimidated by principals? Are they forced to use dangerous staplers or chalk tainted with asbestos? C'mon, this is one of the great money grabs of all-time!
bobby bow
3:48 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
Why is this a political discussion of labor unions?
Teachers preying on adolescents is as old as schools.
Catholic Schools, Charter Schools have no Unions, but still have the same problem.
This is not about politics or Unions. This is about adults who abuse positions of authority and take advantage of innocent kids.
been there done that
4:32 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
Bobby, see my #1 point above; my comments relate back to an earlier discussion on a different article that peripherally involved these issues...apologies for bad blogging form....