Kissing, Touching, Sexting: Former Morris County Teacher Admits Relationship With Teen

The former Parsippany Hills High School teacher accused of sexually assaulting a teen student admitted sending sexually explicit text messages to the boy as well as kissing on multiple occasions and touching the alleged victim’s genitals.

According to nj.com, Jenna Leahey, 33, of Morristown, admitted to police in a video during her interrogation that she sent photos and sexually explicit text messages to a 16-year-old male teen student at the school where she worked.

The video surfaced during a pre-trial hearing held Wednesday morning in Morristown, following a day of testimony from a friend of the alleged victim as well as the school’s football coach Dave Albano. The friend told the court Tuesday the student and teacher“did physical things” in a classroom and had an ongoing relationship during the six-month period in question.

In the video, Leahey says the reason she touched the teen’s genitals is because he forced her hand there, the report said. That backs up the claim Leahey’s attorney, Stephanie Forbes, has been citing since her client’s indictment that the teacher was also sexually assaulted.

Leahey was an English teacher and field hockey coach at the high school.

The relationship between the two began in January 2013 when Leahey was counseling the student after his aunt died of cancer. The relationship lasted until June of that year when the teen alerted Albano about the situation.

Leahey has been charged with sexual assault and official misconduct.

The video also shows Leahey saying that she never initiated any of the relationship, though she did “play along” with it, the report said.