Former Teacher, Coach Charged With Sexual Assault In Mercer: Officials

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — A former teacher and basketball coach has been charged with sexual assault, acting Mercer County Prosecutor Theresa L. Hilton and Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson said Tuesday.

Darrell R. Moody, 51, of Plainfield, was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault between 2014 and 2019, Hilton said. he was taken into custody in Trenton on Monday.

In May 2024, a victim contacted Trenton police to report incidents of sexual assault that began when the victim was in middle school. A joint investigation with the MCPO Special Victims Unit began.

Detectives learned that the victim met Moody when he was teaching fifth grade at Parker Elementary School. Moody sexually assaulted the victim over the course of several years beginning in middle school and continuing to high school, Hilton said.

Moody was also coaching basketball at Joyce Kilmer Middle School during that time.

In an unrelated incident, on June 27, 2023, South Plainfield Police Department charged Moody with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and one count of second-degree solicitation of a minor for prostitution.

The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office has charged Moody with one count of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, and two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

The prosecutor’s office has filed a motion to detain Moody pending trial.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the prosecutor’s SVU at (609) 989-6568 or mcposvu@mercercounty.org.