Man Arrested For Sex Crimes At School In Fair Lawn Also Substituted At Ridgewood

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A former Fair Lawn School District employee who was arrested Wednesday for allegedly masturbating in a middle school building had also served as a substitute teacher in at least one other Bergen County district, an official confirmed Thursday.

John C. Stewart, 33, of Midland Park was charged with second-degree sexual assault by sexual contact and several other charges, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office late on Wednesday.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Ridgewood Public Schools responded to a question from Patch, confirming that Stewart was a former substitute teacher in the district for two years. However, he was not employed there recently, she said.

"Mr. Stewart was not an employee of our district and did not substitute here in 2024-2025," said the district spokesperson on Thursday. "However, he did substitute here from the spring of 2022 until June of 2024."

The district will provide a full statement later today, she noted.

Prosecutors say that on Tuesday, the Fair Lawn Police Department contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding an apparent lewd incident that occurred on the property of Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Fair Lawn.

An investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Fair Lawn Police Department determined that on two dates in July, Stewart, a former employee of the school district, "entered the middle school at different hours of the day and masturbated in different areas of the school building," prosecutors said in a release.

Prosecutors did not say how he was employed by the district, but NJ.com referred to him as a substitute teacher.

According to prosecutors, investigators determined that on one occasion, children were present in the building for a summer activity. But there's no evidence that Stewart directly approached any children who were present, prosecutors said.

Besides the sexual assault charge, he was charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of third-degree burglary, one count of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, one count of fourth-degree lewdness, one count of fourth-degree trespassing, and one count of disorderly persons lewdness, prosecutors said.

"It should be noted that the sexual assault by sexual contact and aggravated criminal sexual contact charges, among others, relate to the act of masturbation by the defendant," prosecutors said.

On Wednesday, Stewart was taken to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack.

The investigation is continuing and anyone with additional information may contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Tips Line at (201) 226-5532, prosecutors said.