Passaic County Teacher Charged In Child Sex Case

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A Passaic High School teacher has been charged following an investigation into him allegedly having sexually inappropriate conversations with two teenagers from 2010 and 2012.

Jose Maria, 39, was charged with four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree official misconduct, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announced Wednesday.

The two victims' identities are being withheld based on the nature of the charges. They were students at Passaic High School when the conversations allegedly occurred.

Maria was arrested Wednesday after an investigation by the Passaic Police Department, the Department of Children and Families Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit, Valdes said.

Maria faces a possible 50 year prison sentence if convicted of all the charges filed against him.

If found guilty of the endangering the welfare of a child charges he would have to register as a sex offender offender and be subject to parole supervision for life.

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Photo: Jose Maria, 39/Passaic County Prosecutor's Office, background image via Shutterstock