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Victim in School Sex Abuse Case Wins $30 Million Jury Award
Victim in School Sex Abuse Case Wins $30 Million Jury Award
The man, now 44, said that a teacher in Newark repeatedly sexually abused him in the 1990s.
Ann Street School in Newark, where a 44-year-old man said he was abused as a child by an after-school teacher in the 1990s. Bryan Anselm for The New York Times
By Andy Newman
Jan. 28, 2026
The abuse usually happened, the victim said, in a tiny windowless office behind the gym, during an after-school program. The office was furnished with a sofa, a filing cabinet and a desk. Sometimes he was offered Oreos and milk, sometimes baseball cards.
As dozens of children played noisily just yards away, the victim recalled, a teacher at his public school in Newark would molest him. Kissing and fondling soon gave way to rape. The boy was about 9 years old when it started. Over the course of four years in the 1990s, the teacher sexually abused the student hundreds of times, including in the teacher’s car near the school, the victim’s lawyers said. ... Sometimes, the lawyers said, the teacher would pay the boy $3.
On Tuesday, a jury awarded a $30 million judgment to the victim, who is now 44. His lawyers say it is the largest such award in New Jersey since a 2019 law extended the statute of limitations to allow any abuse survivor under 55 to bring suit.
The verdict, handed down in Essex County Superior Court, found both the Newark Board of Education and the City of Newark liable for the abuse. ... They also found liable the estate of the teacher, John Cantalupo, who ran the after-school program at the Ann Street School in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood and died by suicide in 1995.
{snip}
A current view of the basement gym at the Ann Street School, where the after-school program was based. The victim’s abuser would assault him in an office behind the gym, the victim’s lawyers said. Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala and Rebenack Aronow Mascolo law firms
{snip}
Andy Newman writes about New Yorkers facing difficult situations, including homelessness, poverty and mental illness. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.
The man, now 44, said that a teacher in Newark repeatedly sexually abused him in the 1990s.
Ann Street School in Newark, where a 44-year-old man said he was abused as a child by an after-school teacher in the 1990s. Bryan Anselm for The New York Times
By Andy Newman
Jan. 28, 2026
The abuse usually happened, the victim said, in a tiny windowless office behind the gym, during an after-school program. The office was furnished with a sofa, a filing cabinet and a desk. Sometimes he was offered Oreos and milk, sometimes baseball cards.
As dozens of children played noisily just yards away, the victim recalled, a teacher at his public school in Newark would molest him. Kissing and fondling soon gave way to rape. The boy was about 9 years old when it started. Over the course of four years in the 1990s, the teacher sexually abused the student hundreds of times, including in the teacher’s car near the school, the victim’s lawyers said. ... Sometimes, the lawyers said, the teacher would pay the boy $3.
On Tuesday, a jury awarded a $30 million judgment to the victim, who is now 44. His lawyers say it is the largest such award in New Jersey since a 2019 law extended the statute of limitations to allow any abuse survivor under 55 to bring suit.
The verdict, handed down in Essex County Superior Court, found both the Newark Board of Education and the City of Newark liable for the abuse. ... They also found liable the estate of the teacher, John Cantalupo, who ran the after-school program at the Ann Street School in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood and died by suicide in 1995.
{snip}
A current view of the basement gym at the Ann Street School, where the after-school program was based. The victim’s abuser would assault him in an office behind the gym, the victim’s lawyers said. Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala and Rebenack Aronow Mascolo law firms
{snip}
Andy Newman writes about New Yorkers facing difficult situations, including homelessness, poverty and mental illness. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.