Ex-Teacher Accused Of Molesting Student Dies Before Trial
WILLIAMSTOWN, NJ — A former teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student died days before his trial was set to begin.
Paul VanHouten, a former science teacher at Williamstown Middle School, molested a 12-year-old girl on school grounds in 2020, authorities said. He was set to stand trial on March 4 for the charges of sexual assault, child endangerment and official misconduct.
VanHouten, 57, died Feb. 22. His obituary didn’t list a cause of death.
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In February 2020, VanHouten touched the victim’s breasts over her clothes and then followed her into a classroom storage closet, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office (GCPO). After the assault, he threatened to fail the student in his class if she told anyone, authorities said.
The Monroe Township School District suspended VanHouten after the girl’s mother reported the incident to officials. He was charged the following July and placed in the Salem County Correctional Facility, pending a court date.
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He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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VanHouten had been teaching in Monroe schools since 1989. His obituary says that he retired.
The former teacher was also charged with creating false public alarm in February 2018 — days after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. But his charges were later dismissed.
VanHouten, using a pseudonym, had posted an unsubstantiated rumor online that a Williamstown Middle School student made a similar school-shooting threat, the GCPO said. He was referencing a YouTube video with a noncredible threat that Monroe school administration had previously handled, authorities said.
The GCPO opted against taking the case to a grand jury and sent it to a municipal court, where he faced a charge of harassment for communications that caused alarm. But a judge dismissed the charge.
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