FRANKFORD, N.J. (WPIX) — A student teacher at an elementary school in Frankford has been arrested and charged with having sexual relations with a young student, authorities said Thursday.
Lindsay Massaro, 23, a student at Centenary College in Hackettstown, reportedly struck up a week-long romance with the Frankford Elementary school student, which apparently began on March 21 and ended this past Saturday.
Massaro is accused of committing “acts of sexual penetration and sexual contact with the intimate parts of a minor male,” according to information provided by the Sussex County Prosecutor’s office.
According to Superintendent Braden Hirsch, Massaro was in charge of schooling eighth-grade students on a myriad of subjects. Officials say she was working toward getting her state teaching certificate in special education.
Massaro was arrested Monday following a probe by police, but it is not clear if police tracked her down at the elementary school, which serves student grades K-8.
She was reportedly charged with second-degree sexual assault, third-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and fourth-degree criminal sexual contact. If convicted of the most serious charge, second-degree sexual assault, Massaro could face up to ten years behind bars.
During the spring of 2008, Massaro taught sixth-graders one day a week at the Great Meadow Middle School in Independence Township, which is about an hour away from the school she currently worked at, according to school board minutes obtained by The Star Ledger.
Massaro, who was released from county jail after posting $75,000 bail, is being ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors under the age of 16 and is being ordered to stay away from the school. She is also urged to have no contact with the victim’s family and is scheduled to undergo a psychological evaluation.
Massaro is scheduled to appear in court May 4 for a pre-indictment conference.