NJ arbitrator rules against firing teacher who impregnated 16-year-old when he was a priest

An arbitrator for New Jersey’s state Department of Education has ruled that a school district cannot fire a teacher found to have impregnated a 16-year-old when he was a priest.

Earlier this year officials with Cinnaminson Township in Burlington County brought up tenure charges against Joseph DeShan, a teacher at Cinnaminson Middle School, over revelations that he fathered a child with a 16-year-old in 1989 in Bridgeport, Conn., while he was a Catholic priest. DeShan left the priesthood four years later, according to NJ.com.

{mosads}When the allegations surfaced in 2002, DeShan was removed from his classroom for three weeks but returned to teaching thereafter. The school district filed tenure charges against him earlier this year after parents of current students learned of his history and DeShan’s name appeared in 2015 on a list of current and former clergy accused of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Bridgeport. DeShan has maintained it was consensual relationship, according to NJ.com.

In his decision, however, arbitrator Walt De Treux ruled that the district could not fire DeShan because he was not employed by the district when the conduct took place. “Rather, it cites conduct prior to his employment for the District and for which it had administratively suspended, investigated, and returned him to the classroom more than 16 years ago,” De Treux wrote. “The fact that some parents now demand his removal from the classroom does not give the BOE a second opportunity to revisit pre-employment conduct of which it has been long aware.”

“The district is disappointed with the decision and currently exploring options to resolve the matter,” Stephen Cappello, Cinnaminson’s superintendent of schools, said in a statement, according to NJ.com. “However, it is our district policy to refrain from comments regarding open personnel and legal matters. The well-being of our entire school community is always our highest priority.”