Child Endangerment Charges Won't Be Dropped In Parsippany Teacher Sex Case

A judge in Superior Court in Morris County agreed with the prosecution that Jenna Leahey had a “legal duty” to care for a 16-year-old male student and did not do so when she had alleged sexual contact with the teen in 2013.

Leahey, a former Parsippany Hills High School English teacher and field hockey coach, won’t have two child endangerment charges dismissed from her case, nj.com reported, and is one conference away from going to trial.

Leahey was indicted on charges alleging she had sexual conversations and forced a male student to have sex with her sometime between January and June 2016.

Leahey’s attorney asked to have the child endangerment charges dismissed since state law defined a child as someone under the age of 16. That law was changed in 2013 to define a child as anyone under the age of 18, the report said.

The former teacher was indicted on two counts of second degree endangering the welfare of a child; one count of second degree sexual assault; one count of second degree official misconduct; and three counts of fourth degree criminal sexual contact.

Leahy and the student began exchanging “explicit text messages” and the teacher sent “sexually explicit pictures of herself” to the student, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp said.

Authorities were made aware of the situation when the student allegedly told another school staff member about the relationship.

A plea deal has been discussed that would give Leahey a five-year jail sentence and lifelong supervision as a sex offender if she pleaded guilty to official misconduct and one sex-related offense.

Leahey is next due in court Jan. 6 for a pre-trial hearing.