Former Middletown North Teacher/Basketball Coach Admits To Sex With Minor

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Justin McGhee, a former gym teacher at Middletown High School North and formerly the head coach of the North girls' basketball team, pleaded guilty Monday to having a sexual relationship with an underage student at the school.

McGhee, 36, was arrested by Middletown Police in January, after he was accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a Middletown High School North female student under the age of 18. He was charged with second-degree sex assault and second-degree child endangerment.

He pleaded guilty before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry Butehorn to a single charge of second-degree sex assault.

McGhee lives in Ocean Township.

McGhee was not only the North girls' basketball coach; he was also a health/gym teacher and an assistant boys' football coach at Middletown North. At his sentencing, which is scheduled for February 20, the state will ask that he serve five and a half years in prison. The state will also demand he forfeit all future public employment, register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and be on parole supervision for life. The state will also ask that McGhee refrain from any future contact with the victim and that he be forever banned from Middletown High School North grounds.

The illegal relationship between McGhee and the teen girl began in late 2024, Middletown Police previously said in this article. According to the affidavit of this case, it was in December 2024 that a Middletown Police detective first received a report that McGhee was having an inappropriate relationship with a student. However, that allegation did not name the student.

Then, on Jan. 26 that same detective received another report, this time an email from a Middletown school official, alleging McGhee had inappropriate contact with a student.

After the second allegation was made, Middletown Police also discovered a report of an incident flagged as suspicious by police in another town (unnamed), where police found McGhee with a teenage girl in a car after midnight. Middletown Police then interviewed the girls' parents and then the girl herself, who told police she and her teacher had been involved in a relationship that turned sexual, according to the affidavit. Middletown Police took McGhee into custody on Jan. 28, two days after getting the second report, and interviewed him. In police interviews, he "confessed to the sexual relationship with the student, specifically stating that the encounters sexual in nature occurred in the basement of his house," according to the affidavit.

Immediately after McGhee's arrest, he was placed on paid administrative leave by the Middletown school district. He then quit the school district in March of this year.

Since he quit, McGhee no longer receives health benefits from the Middletown school district, and he does not have the years of service to be eligible for a pension, Middletown school superintendent Jessica Alfone previously said.

In light of his guilty plea this week in court, McGhee will next face revocation of his teaching license from the state. McGhee was represented by Mitchell Ansell defense attorney. This case did not go to trial; there was just a hearing Monday where McGhee pleaded guilty.

Prior Patch reporting on the criminal charges against Justin McGhee:

Middletown North Basketball Coach Charged With Sex Assault Of Student (Jan. 2025)

Middletown Police Notified Twice Of Allegations Against Teacher (January 2025)

Middletown Coach Accused Of Sex Assault Quit, Not Eligible For Pension (March 2025)