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November 20, 2004
SEX INDICTMENT FOR BAYONNE EX-TEACHER
By Ronald Leir -- Journal staff writer -- nj.com
Grand jury acts years after alleged offenses; boy was then 15
A Hudson County grand jury has returned a criminal indictment against former Bayonne High School guidance counselor Diane West, charging her with aggravated sexual assault and other offenses in connection with accusations that she had sex with a male student.
The 12-count indictment was handed up on Wednesday - nearly a month after the grand jurors voted on the matter, which was presented to them by Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Donald Gardner.
It alleges that West, now 50, "knowingly did commit acts of sexual penetration" with the student, identified only as "C.C.," between July 2000 and December 2001. The student was 15 years old when the alleged offenses began.
If convicted of aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree crime, West could face up to 20 years in prison.
The indictment charges West with two counts of aggravated sexual assault, three counts of sexual assault, two counts of aggravated sexual contact, three counts of sexual contact, one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of child abuse.
The indictment says that the alleged offenses took place when West "was a foster parent, a guardian or stood in loco parentis within the household" and "had supervisory or disciplinary power" over the student "by virtue of her legal, professional or occupational status."
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said that West will be arraigned on the charges in state Superior Court in Jersey City sometime next month, probably before Judge Mark Nelson.
"A trial could occur as early as the spring," DeFazio said.
The case has been assigned to Assistant Prosecutor Debra Simon, he said.
DeFazio said West's attorney, Daniel Carluccio, of Toms River, "knows that the matter was presented to the grand jury (on Sept. 22) and that an indictment was forthcoming."
Carluccio couldn't be reached yesterday.
This case will mark the second criminal go-round for West.
West, whose current residence wasn't listed in the indictment, was previously charged with sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse in a complaint filed in December 2001 by Bayonne police on behalf of "C.C."
But that complaint was ultimately dismissed "without prejudice" in June 2002 by state Superior Court Judge Arthur D'Italia, then sitting as assignment judge for Hudson County, meaning that the case could be revived at the state's discretion.
DeFazio said that the state consented to the dismissal "with the anticipation that the matter would, eventually, be presented to a (county) grand jury. It was the desire of the alleged victim, through his family, to pursue the matter and that has led us to this point.
"There's certainly probable cause to believe that these allegations took place. Hopefully, justice will be served."
Asked why it has taken nearly 21/2 years to bring the matter to a grand jury, DeFazio said that during that time West has been represented "by a number of different defense attorneys who have engaged in conversations with the Prosecutor's Office."
DeFazio declined to elaborate, but those familiar with the matter say there have been efforts - all apparently unsuccessful - to negotiate some type of settlement to prevent the matter from going to trial.
Meanwhile, West is awaiting trial as a co-defendant, along with the city of Bayonne, the Bayonne Board of Education, Bayonne High School, Schools Superintendent Patricia McGeehan and former Bayonne High Principal Michael Wanko, in a civil suit filed in March on behalf of the student's family in U.S. District Court in Newark.
The suit alleges that Bayonne school administrators allowed West to continue working for the school board even after knowing that West allegedly made sexual advances to several male students at a dance while she was an eighth-grade teacher, and, rather than heeding a supervisor's recommendation to fire her, transferred her to the high school.
And, a few years after that, the suit alleges, West became pregnant by a Bayonne High student whom she married after he graduated, and the couple later divorced. The incident with C.C. followed, the suit said.
Bloomfield attorney Robert Bianchi, who filed the suit, said yesterday that he has been involved in "extensive settlement discussions," but "we've had discovery stayed pending the outcome of the criminal matter (involving West). I guess we'll just wait and see how that matter fleshes out."
West retired from the Bayonne school system in July 2002 after 24 years of service and is receiving a monthly pension.
Posted by Nealus at November 20, 2004 01:02 PM
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