NJ Coach Charged With Sex Assault Faced Allegations Before: Suit

NEW JERSEY – A man who coached at 15 NJ schools who is now charged with sex assault was fired after earlier allegations came to light, a lawsuit says. But he still managed to get jobs.

John M. Denuto, 43, a teacher at the Sayreville Middle School, was arrested on Saturday on multiple charges involving the sexual assault of a child he knew, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

Denuto, a Spotswood resident, most recently served as the head coach of Union County College's wrestling team after he coached at high schools throughout New Jersey, according to the college.

The charges come more than a decade after Denuto filed a 2009 lawsuit against the Sayreville School District and other officials, charging that he was struggling to find work after he was removed as Sayreville High School wrestling coach.

Denuto claimed that parents accused him of forcing kids to a strip search, and that he forced them to take off their clothes. He said skin checks were conducted in compliance with state regulations to make sure a wrestler didn’t have a communicable skin disease, according to the lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, Denuto said the allegations arose after one of his athletes was kicked off the team for failing to follow team rules. Another athlete quit the team, he said in the lawsuit. He said parents complained about his conduct as coach and the principal decided not to rehire him afterward.

Denuto said he later brought 60 people to speak on his behalf at later meeting, and the board voted to retain him, according to the lawsuit. “At no time during this June meeting were any allegations made that I unlawfully strip-searched any students or engaged in any inappropriate sexual related behavior with any students,” he said.

But Denuto said he lost his job again when parents approached school officials and continued to make "false" allegations, according to the lawsuit.

Denuto said the matter was later referred to the prosecutor. He was also suspended from his position as special education teacher at the high school and was then transferred to the middle school, according to the lawsuit.

Denuto said the false allegations against him then became "the talk of the high school," he said. He struggled to get other coaching positions afterward and he lost his job as assistant football coach in Monroe Township.

Denuto was fired by UCC and has been suspended with pay from his special education math teaching job in Sayreville, college and school officials told NJ Advance Media.

The Union County College website said Denuto helped lead many high school wrestling programs to success in his years serving as head or assistant coach, including 145 career wins with Clark, Sayreville, Pennsville and Camden Catholic.

"In the past three seasons, as assistant coach at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, Coach Denuto helped improve the team's record from 2-18 up to being named a top 10 team in New Jersey," the website said.

Denuto was also the head high school wrestling coach in Spotswood, according to The Asbury Park Press. He also was an assistant wrestling coach at South Brunswick, Woodbridge and Raritan, and an assistant football coach at Monroe, Middletown North, Ocean Township, among others, according to The Asbury Park Press.

The most recent charges stem from an October 2016 incident involving Denuto and a teen who was between 13 and 15 years old, according to NJ Advance Media. Denuto was accused of photographing a child in a sex act, according to the report.

Denuto earned his bachelor’s degree from Kean University and is a math teacher in Sayreville, according to the site.

Denuto was charged with one count of second-degree sexual assault, one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, one count of second-degree filming child pornography and one count of third-degree possession of child pornography.

He is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center pending a Detention Hearing.

The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Daniel Ellmeyer of the Sayreville Police Department (732) 727-4444, or Detective Julissa Alvarado of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3711.