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Former Teacher at Toms River High School North Arrested
According to the authorities, a former art teacher at Toms River High School North was found guilty of sexually assaulting a student.
According to the Ocean County Prosecutors Office, on June 28, 2023, Raymond Waters, 71, of Pawlet, Vermont, was found guilty of five counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault and thirteen counts of Sexual Assault.
Following a three week-long jury trial, the jury concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that between September 2002 and September 2004, Waters sexually assaulted a minor in Toms River Township, Barnegat Township, and Hillsborough Township (Somerset County). Waters was remanded to the Ocean County Jail pending sentencing, the date of which has yet to be determined.
The victim contacted the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office in January 2014 to allege that between September 2002 and September 2004 he had been sexually assaulted by Waters and his husband, a Hillsborough, New Jersey resident Allen Harbatuk, 76 who was also arrested in 2018.
The victim first encountered Waters in 2002, when he was 14 years old, when Waters was his art teacher at
Toms River High School North, according to an investigation conducted afterwards by the Special Victims Unit of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and the Detective Bureau of the
Toms River Township Police Department.
On June 21, 2018, Harbatuk was found guilty of Sexual Assault after a jury trial before the Honorable Therese Cunningham, J.S.C. On November 2, 2018, Judge Cunningham sentenced Harbatuk to seven years New Jersey State Prison.
Prosecutor Billhimer commends the diligence and dedication of Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Kristin Pressman and Assistant Prosecutor Kaitlyn Burke who ably and skillfully tried the case on behalf of the State. The Prosecutor likewise extends his gratitude to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, and Hillsborough Township Police Department, for their combined and collective efforts in connection with this matter, ultimately resulting in this guilty verdict.
