Sex Assault Conviction Overturned For Perth Amboy Teacher

PERTH AMBOY, NJ — A Perth Amboy middle school teacher who was convicted of sexually assaulting one of his students is getting a new trial, NJ.com reported.

Guilermo Santamaria, who is also commonly called William Santamaria, was convicted in 2012 of sleeping with one of his female students while he was a science teacher at a Perth Amboy public school. The alleged relationship spanned six years and started in the late 1990s — when she was 13 and he was 43, prosecutors said at the time. Santamaria was married and had two other girlfriends at the time, prosecutors said.

He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in state prison. But on Friday, a state appellate dismissed one of the official misconduct charges against him and reversed the remaining charges, thereby ordering a new trial.

Santamaria and the girl would talk on the phone several times a week and would both masturbate during the calls, according to the NJ.com report. He is accused of having sex with the girl on school grounds after she turned 18. The girl was 27 when the case went to trial. Santamaria's ex-wife said she found more than 50 sexually-explicit photos of him and the student and turned them over to the prosecution.

At his sentencing in 2012, Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves reportedly commented on the photos: "Oh my God, those pictures... I can't get one of those pictures out of my head."

But on Friday, the state appellate court ruled that those photos should never have been entered into trial, as they were prejudicial. They also ruled that the prosecution's case was "devoid of any substantive physical evidence, including text messages, DNA evidence, or any admissions from the defendant."

Prison photo of Guilermo Santamaria provided by the NJ Dept. of Corrections.