NJ Elementary Teacher Indicted On 4 Child Sex Assaults

LONG BRANCH, NJ — A former Long Branch elementary school teacher has now been indicted on charges he sexually assaulted four of his former students, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said Tuesday.

Gustavo Barrientos, 53, worked in an unnamed Long Branch public elementary school, where police say he molested the four children. He also at one point worked at Red Bank Charter School, but no charges have been filed in relation to that school.

Prosecutors say he molested the children either at the Long Branch school or on class field trips during the 2017-2019 school years.

As Patch reported last year, Barrientos was first arrested on Feb. 14, 2021 after police said he showed a 10-year-old girl student of his pornography and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions.

After that girl came forward with her allegation, Long Branch Police and the county prosecutor launched an investigation, which revealed three more alleged child victims, said police.

He was indicted Tuesday on one count of first-degree aggravated sex assault, three counts of second-degree sex assault, and four counts of second-degree child endangerment.

Barrientos lives in Tinton Falls.

Police have not accused him of any crimes at Red Bank Charter School but they are still looking for information. This week, the Monmouth County Prosecutor repeated a plea for information about Barrientos:

Anyone with any information regarding Barrientos’s activities is still urged to contact Detective Todd Coleman of the Long Branch Police Department at 732-222-1000 or Detective Joshua Rios of the MCPO Special Victims Bureau at 732-431-7160, Ext. 6069.

You can be anonymous by submitting a tip to the Monmouth County Crime Stoppers by calling their confidential telephone tipline at 1-800-671-4400, or 800-671-4400 or by going to the Crime Stoppers website at www.monmouthcountycrimestoppers.com

Initial Patch report: Long Branch Elementary Teacher Accused Of Molesting More Children (Feb. 2021)

In a completely separate case, a Bradley Beach man was also indicted this February on charges he attempted to pay an elementary school girl for sexual intercourse.

Adalberto Garcia-Velasco, 41, was indicted on charges of third-degree child endangerment, first-degree manufacturing child pornography, second-degree luring, promoting prostitution and second-degree attempted sexual assault.

Police say on November 23, 2021, Bradley Beach Police were contacted by the staff at a local elementary school when they learned that one of their students had been receiving inappropriate text messages from an adult man.

Police said Garcia-Velasco had been sending text messages to a girl who lived in his neighborhood.

Specifically, in October of 2021, he began texting the victim requesting that she send him nude photos of herself. Over the course of the next month, he continued to send sexual messages to the young girl, at times offering her up to $800 to have sex with him, said police.

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