A middle school teacher wept uncontrollably in court after a judge ruled she must remain in custody until trial over allegations she sexually abused a student beginning when he was 13 years old and continued manipulating him for six years.
Ashley Fisler, 36, grimaced and rocked back and forth at Salem County prison in New Jersey as Judge William Ziegler declared she posed a community risk and potential witness intimidation threat, with footage showing her holding her hands to her mouth whilst tears streamed down her face.
“There is the potential for witness intimidation if the defendant is released,” Judge Ziegler stated, noting evidence allegedly demonstrated Fisler “was able to surreptitiously keep this relationship between herself and the victim.”
The judge emphasised she concealed the relationship “from her husband, other people and all others, and continued this relationship knowing his precise age.”
Prosecutor Kylie Finley revealed her office possesses 7,500 pages of disturbing text exchanges between Fisler and the complainant documenting six years of what she characterised as “grooming, manipulation and abuse.”
The now-18-year-old victim reported the prolonged abuse to authorities in January after attempting to sever contact with Fisler, alleging the sexual assaults commenced in 2021 whilst he attended Orchard Valley Middle School as a 13-year-old student.
He claims Fisler assaulted him six times when he was 13 and 14 in both her vehicle and classroom, before continuing to send explicit messages for years including reminiscing about sexual encounters, requesting he describe intimate acts with age-appropriate partners, and offering to purchase sex toys.
When the teenager attempted ending communication, Fisler allegedly manipulated him to maintain control, with the court hearing she acknowledged forcing him “to grow up abnormally quick” when he disclosed mental health struggles and dating difficulties.
“I have to try really hard to rebuild the things you broke inside of me. You destroyed things inside of me. You stripped me of my innocence,” a recent text from the teenager stated, according to prosecutors.
Despite his subsequent message reading “I don’t want you in my life anymore,” Fisler allegedly persisted in contacting him.
She faces six counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor carrying maximum 20-year sentences, alongside one count each of second-degree endangering child welfare and second-degree official misconduct of a public servant—both carrying maximum 10-year terms.
