Teacher molested me at sleepovers at his house, ex-student says in lawsuit

A former Bridgeton school student who alleged he was molested by his teacher has filed a lawsuit.

Isaias Garza, 52, of Vineland, was indicted last year on charges that he sexually assaulted two students -- both undocumented immigrants -- more than a decade ago and then tried to bribe one of them into remaining quiet by promising cash and help with immigration paperwork.

The suit filed by one of those students names Bridgeton Board of Education and Garza as defendants. School officials declined to comment on the case.

The alleged crimes occurred while Garza was head teacher with the Bridgeton Public Schools' ExCEL program, an accelerated learning program for middle school students.

The former students, who are now adults, say the assaults occurred on various occasions between 2002 and 2008 at the ExCEL program building on Washington Street and during sleepovers at Garza’s home, according to court documents.

The first student came forward in September 2018 and suggested investigators speak to the second student.

Twenty minutes after Garza was interviewed by investigators about the first student’s allegations, prosecutors say, the teacher visited the second student and urged him not to cooperate with police. That student made recordings of the conversation.

“I don’t have much, but what I can give you I’ll give you with love,” prosecutors said Garza told the victim. “I’ll protect you. I’ll help you with your papers. You don’t have to talk.”

Garza allegedly told the man to tell investigators that the sleepovers were innocent and that he had visited Garza’s home because he admired the teacher’s family.

When the former student asked Garza what would happen if he told the truth, he allegedly replied, “If you tell the truth, I’ll go to jail and my family will be destroyed,” according to investigators.

After his arrest, the school district suspended the teacher and barred him from school property.

The suit alleges that Garza used his position of trust in the school district to sexually abuse the student and that the district was negligent for not preventing his “predatory conduct.”

The district continued to employ Garza “despite warning signs and/or reports of inappropriate contact and/or relationships with the children under his care,” according to the suit.

The student suffered harm through “physical violation, physical pain and suffering, emotional pain and suffering, psychological damage, violation of his civil and/or constitutional rights, and/or past and future economic losses,” the suit states.

Garza’s criminal defense attorney, Kevin McCann, described his client in 2018 as a “pillar of the community” and presented letters of support written by more than 50 people. Many friends and family attended Garza’s detention hearing and applauded when he was ordered released pending trial.

Garza is a U.S. citizen who came here from Mexico in the early 1990s. He has no prior criminal record.

He was indicted in March 2019 on six counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, 13 counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree witness tampering/bribery.

He entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.

McCann said he will likely file a response to the civil complaint on Garza’s behalf, but expects the case will be put on held pending the outcome of the criminal case. When the civil case does proceed, another attorney would represent Garza.

Given his lack of a criminal record and extensive support from others, the claims against Garza don’t make sense, McCann said Thursday.

Child molesters are typically lifelong offenders, he said. “They don’t just live a normal life for 45 years, become a perpetrator and then stop again,” he said.

“I don’t even think he has a speeding ticket,” McCann said of his client.

The lawsuit alleges sexual abuse of a minor, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence by district employees and creating a hostile environment based on the student’s gender, and seeks injunctive relief requiring the district to “enact or enforce meaningful and effective preventative, reporting, and investigative policies and practices regarding sexual abuse …”

The former student seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

The student’s attorney, Oliver T. Barry, declined to comment on details of the allegations, but said the civil case is in its early stages.

Barry represents one of the victims described in the criminal allegations, and no additional suits appear to have been filed in the case.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.

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