Prosecutor: Bergen County Teacher Accused of Sexual Contact With Student

A teacher at a Bergen County school has been arrested on charges he engaged in inappropriate sexual activity with a 16-year-old student, authorities said.

Donald DeWitt, 65, of Warwick, N.Y., was arrested on Monday on charges of attempted sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal sexual contact.

DeWitt is a faculty member at Bergen County Academies, in Hackensack, and teaches numerous courses at the school, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said. The victim’s sister discovered sexually explicit emails between DeWitt and the teenage victim and informed her mother of what she discovered.

The victim’s mother subsequently notified local police, who notified the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Computer Crimes Unit. Authorities interviewed the victim on Monday, during which she provided specific details regarding what happened with DeWitt, authorities said. Investigators have also reviewed the emails between the victim and DeWitt, the prosecutor’s office said.

He was hired on a full-time basis at Bergen County Academies in 1992. According to his school biography, DeWitt received a bachelor’s degree in zoology, master’s degree in biology and a doctorate in cardiovascular physiology.

DeWitt is being held at the Bergen County Jail on $300,000 bail, with no 10 percent option, and was ordered to have no contact with the victim and to surrender of his passport.

(Photo courtesy of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office)