New Brunswick Teacher's Aide Pleads Guilty To Sex Assault Charge

SOUTH RIVER, NJ — A man who worked as a teacher's aide and coach in the New Brunswick school system pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated sexual assault, after he was accused earlier this year of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old female student.

Their encounters took place on school property during school hours for nearly a year, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey.

Eugene Colbert, 31, a South River resident, worked as a special education teacher's aide at New Brunswick Middle School, according to MyCentralJersey. He was also an assistant coach for the boys basketball and football teams at the school.

Colbert agreed to a plea deal with the county prosecutor in June, before he was formally indicted on the charges, the county prosecutor's office confirmed to Patch this week. He will be sentenced Sept. 6. He agreed to forfeit any future public employment as part of his plea deal.

Colbert worked in the New Brunswick school system since 2009, and he was fired a week before he was arrested in March of this year.

The girl was 13, and their interactions went on for nearly a year, from November 2018 through March of 2019, said the county prosecutor.

MyCentralJersey reported that Colbert used keys to get into storage rooms and trailers where the encounters with the girl happened. Their relationship started with texting and phone calls, with Colbert texting the girl photos of his genitalia and asking her to respond in kind, according to the news report. Prosecutors said New Brunswick Middle School had video surveillance of Colbert and the female student going into an equipment storage room on multiple occasions. They also said they have video of Colbert giving the girl a large stuffed bear on Valentine's Day.

And the case is even more serious: The prosecutor's office says New Brunswick school officials initially failed to notify law enforcement of the suspected relationship.

But the New Brunswick schools superintendent, Dr. Aubrey Johnson, stood by the district's handling of the matter.

"While we can't comment on specifics related to this matter because it's under active investigation, we can say we're cooperating fully with authorities and are standing by to support their efforts," said Dr. Johnson in a statement released in March when Colbert was first arrested. "To be clear, our district is committed to adhering to all laws, policies, and agreements – as evidenced by the fact that the individual charged in this case was arrested following our notification of authorities."

Colbert was charged with aggravated sexual assault in the first degree, sexual assault in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree, aggravated criminal sexual contact in the third degree and engaging in criminal sexual contact in the fourth degree.

Initial Patch report on Eugene Colbert: New Brunswick Teacher, Coach Charged With Molesting Girl, 13