Former School Employee Masturbated In Middle School Twice, Bergen County Prosecutor Says

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A former Fair Lawn School District employee was arrested Wednesday after being accused of masturbating inside a local middle school twice this month, say prosecutors.

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

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.

UPDATE: He is a former substitute teacher in Ridgewood, that district confirmed.

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.

Detectives determined that on one occasion, children were present in the building for a summer activity, prosecutors said. 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.