COURT HOUSE – Superior Court Judge J. Christopher Gibson has concluded that a 34-year-old Middle Township teacher charged with the sexual assault of a former student was not a flight risk or likely to commit a crime if released.
After a 38-minute detention hearing on Jan. 21, Gibson ended Laura Caron’s pretrial incarceration, releasing the woman charged with, among other things, first-degree sexual assault of a student whom the prosecution says she abused more than 200 times during a four-year period from 2016 to 2020.
The victim is the alleged father of Caron’s 5-year-old daughter, a child he fathered at the age of 13 while living in Caron’s home on Orbit Drive in Court House.
Cape May County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Dara Paley argued that Caron’s misuse of the trust placed in her as a teacher, her manipulation of the victim’s family and her repeated abuse of the victim over a long period of time made her a flight risk to avoid a potential 10- to 20-year sentence if convicted.
Paley also warned that free of the county jail, Caron might attempt to obstruct the continuing investigation through outreach to the victim or his family.
Caron sat quietly manacled and in an orange jumpsuit as her attorney, John Tumelty, made the case for her “impeccable” record as a teacher and person. He argued that the authorities had acted in haste in arresting Caron even before they had the DNA evidence to support their claim as to the young child’s paternity. “We think a lot of this case will hang on that evidence,” Tumelty said.
The attorney said that Caron lived with her mother in the house throughout the period when the alleged abuse occurred. He said her record, setting aside the current allegations, is spotless. Tumelty frequently referred to the defendant as Laura, touching her shoulder and arguing that she was no flight risk because she has nowhere to go. He promised she would abide by any conditions the court set to ensure there would be no attempt at obstruction of the ongoing investigation.
Caron was arrested on Dec. 17 after Middle Township Schools Superintendent David Salvo alerted authorities that he had received a tip that a teacher might be having inappropriate sexual relations with a student. Caron was a fifth grade teacher at Middle Township Elementary School Number 2 and previously had the victim in her class. She has since been placed on paid leave by the school district.
The victim’s mother became friends with Caron and allowed her children, who included the victim’s brother and sister, to sleep over at Caron’s home. By 2016 the children lived at Caron’s residence, where the police affidavit states the victim was often found sleeping in Caron’s bed in the morning.
Caron is accused of assaulting the victim while he was in her home from 2016 to 2020, beginning when the child was 11 years old. Reported comments from family members and from the victim are that he fathered a child with Caron in 2019 when he was 13 years old.
Gibson imposed conditions on Caron’s release from jail, including no contact with the victim, his family or any other individual on the list of potential witnesses provided by the prosecutor. The judge warned that anything that could be construed as obstruction or a violation of the conditions of her release would likely send her back to the county corrections center.
Caron must also comply with the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency regarding visits with her daughter.
She is due back in court for another hearing on Feb. 25.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
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