Hackettstown Woman Who Sexted Student Gives Up Teaching License

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A Morris County middle school teacher who admitted to sexually harassing a student has forfeited her teaching license, documents show.

Lorri A. Willis, 45, from Hackettstown, was a science teacher at Black River Middle School in Chester who had sent sexual messages to a 13-year-old student last year.

On January 22, about a month after pleading guilty to child endangerment, Willis agreed to relinquish all three of her teaching certificates following a review by the NJ Department of Education’s State Board of Examiners.

She is scheduled for sentencing on March 19.

Background

Willis was arrested on Oct. 20, 2025, after an investigation found that between June 2024 and October 2025, she sent several "sexual and suggestive" text messages to her 13-year-old student, police said.

She was initially charged with luring and endangering the welfare of a child, but the luring charge has been dropped, court documents show. She was ordered to pre-trial detention on Oct. 30 before her guilty plea in December.

Willis was employed as a science teacher at Black River Middle School in Chester. School officials announced that she was "released from all her duties” shortly after her arrest.

"The District was recently notified by law enforcement that a Black River Middle School staff member has been arrested," the Chester School District said in October 2025. "We take allegations of inappropriate conduct by a staff member very seriously. At this time, there is no indication that there is any current risk or threat to the District."