Former Ocean City Athletic Director Accessed Superintendent's Emails Illegally: Prosecutor

Former Ocean City High School Vice Principal and Athletic Director Christine Lentz has been charged with second-degree official misconduct and third-degree criminal computer activity for illegally accessing hacking the email account of the school district’, Cape May County Prosecutor Robert L. Taylor announced Wednesday afternoon.

Lentz, 53, of Woodbine, allegedly accessed the school district email account of Ocean City Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Taylor without prior authorization between April 1 and June 1 of this year.

Lentz surrendered on Tuesday at the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, where she was processed and released on a summons pending a court appearance.

“The Ocean City School District Administration and Board of Education are aware of a violation of district policy related to the use of technology by a former district employee,” the school district said in a statement. “We have cooperated with the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office in a complete and thorough investigation of the incident. We cannot discuss the details of the incident or the former employee‘s arrest. However, we can assure parents, students and the community that student and family records are safe and at no time were effected by the violation.” 

The surrender came following a one-month investigation conducted by Det. Bryan Hamilton of the Cape May County Prosecutor’s High Tech Crime Unit.

She served as Ocean City Athletic Director for seven years, beginning in 2008. She resigned earlier this summer, citing health reasons.

She is a former girls basketball coach at the school, earning 217 wins, the 11th most in Cape-Atlantic League history.

Lentz faces between 5 and 10 years in state prison for the second-degree charge and between 3 and 5 years in state prison for the third-degree charge.