Fil-Am teacher charged for sex acts with teenage student in classroom
A Filipino-American teacher wanted in New Jersey on charges of engaging in sex acts with a 16-year-old student inside her classroom was arrested in South Florida, it was announced by U.S. Marshals, who made the arrest.
Jennalin Garcia-Calle, 28, of Plainfield, N.J., was arrested Jan. 24 at the Recovery Institute of South Florida, a drug and psychiatric treatment center in Davie, Florida, by U.S. Marshals and fugitive task force officers from the Fort Lauderdale and Davie Police departments.
According to the U.S. Marshals, Garcia-Calle engaged in sex acts with the student at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, where she is a teacher, “while she had supervisory or disciplinary power over the student.”
The teacher, who taught algebra at the school, is also accused of performing indecent, immoral or unlawful acts in the presence of the unnamed teen, the U.S. Marshals said.
“What made this particularly...unusual is that they actually had sex in school, in her classroom,” Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow told the Star-Ledger.
“She locked the door and put up paper to cover the door and the windows,” Romankow said.
“A lot of this story is disturbing.”
The teacher and the student reportedly had three sexual encounters beginning December 2012 and continued until the student started bragging about the encounters with friends, authorities said.
Authorities reportedly learned about the alleged sexual relationship after the student told a family member, who then alerted the police.
“The boy is not at a stage in his life where he’s able to make that type of legal and quite frankly mature enough decision,” Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow told NBC News.
When Garcia-Calle learned that the student was talking about the encounters and that authorities began getting into the picture, she traveled to Broward County, Florida to seek “help” and checked herself into a psychiatric treatment center, official said.
She also allegedly sent messages to the victim, demanding that he “get rid of” all communications that took place between the two of them.
The boy reportedly ignored the teacher’s demand and turned the information over to detectives.
The U.S. Marshals’ Office traced the messages to Garcia-Calle’s location in Florida and obtained a warrant for her arrest on Jan. 22.
Garcia-Calle was taken into custody without incident.
She was booked into the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on charges of sexual assault and child abuse.
She made a brief appearance during a bond court hearing on the morning of Jan. 25.
She’s now being held without bond and it’s unknown as of Monday whether she has an attorney.
The teacher was scheduled for an extradition hearing on Jan. 28 and is expected to be back in New Jersey within this week.
A Kean University graduate, Garcia-Calle had been teaching math at the school since 2008, according to a report.
A colleague wrote in a social networking site that Garcia-Calle is “a wonderful teacher, talented and caring.”
“Praying that all this isn’t true,” the friend also said. - Filipino Reporter
Jennalin Garcia-Calle, 28, of Plainfield, N.J., was arrested Jan. 24 at the Recovery Institute of South Florida, a drug and psychiatric treatment center in Davie, Florida, by U.S. Marshals and fugitive task force officers from the Fort Lauderdale and Davie Police departments.
According to the U.S. Marshals, Garcia-Calle engaged in sex acts with the student at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, where she is a teacher, “while she had supervisory or disciplinary power over the student.”
The teacher, who taught algebra at the school, is also accused of performing indecent, immoral or unlawful acts in the presence of the unnamed teen, the U.S. Marshals said.
“What made this particularly...unusual is that they actually had sex in school, in her classroom,” Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow told the Star-Ledger.
“She locked the door and put up paper to cover the door and the windows,” Romankow said.
“A lot of this story is disturbing.”
The teacher and the student reportedly had three sexual encounters beginning December 2012 and continued until the student started bragging about the encounters with friends, authorities said.
Authorities reportedly learned about the alleged sexual relationship after the student told a family member, who then alerted the police.
“The boy is not at a stage in his life where he’s able to make that type of legal and quite frankly mature enough decision,” Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow told NBC News.
When Garcia-Calle learned that the student was talking about the encounters and that authorities began getting into the picture, she traveled to Broward County, Florida to seek “help” and checked herself into a psychiatric treatment center, official said.
She also allegedly sent messages to the victim, demanding that he “get rid of” all communications that took place between the two of them.
The boy reportedly ignored the teacher’s demand and turned the information over to detectives.
The U.S. Marshals’ Office traced the messages to Garcia-Calle’s location in Florida and obtained a warrant for her arrest on Jan. 22.
Garcia-Calle was taken into custody without incident.
She was booked into the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on charges of sexual assault and child abuse.
She made a brief appearance during a bond court hearing on the morning of Jan. 25.
She’s now being held without bond and it’s unknown as of Monday whether she has an attorney.
The teacher was scheduled for an extradition hearing on Jan. 28 and is expected to be back in New Jersey within this week.
A Kean University graduate, Garcia-Calle had been teaching math at the school since 2008, according to a report.
A colleague wrote in a social networking site that Garcia-Calle is “a wonderful teacher, talented and caring.”
“Praying that all this isn’t true,” the friend also said. - Filipino Reporter
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