Ex-N.B. gym teacher pleads guilty to coercion

BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

TOMS RIVER - A former employee of the North Brunswick Township School District pleaded guilty to a count of coercion during a hearing in Ocean County on March 8.

Daniel McHarris was charged on a count related to sexual misconduct. The fourth-degree offense could carry a maximum sentence of 90 days, according to Capt. Jeffrey Harper, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office public information officer. No other information was released about the situation surrounding the charge.

McHarris was previously a physical education and in-school suspension teacher at the North Brunswick Township High School in the late 1990s. He was involved in a very extensive litigation involving indictments brought down from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and a grand jury after at least three females alleged official misconduct and attempted sexual contact during his term, according to school board attorney Anthony Vignuolo. He was found not guilty on any criminal offenses during the trial; however, due to a difference in burden of proof, he was found responsible for his actions in the civil proceedings.

As a result, tenure charges were filed against him, which were compromised, and he was asked not to return to the school district. Although he sued the district for $325,000 in legal fees and $100,000 in back pay, only $150,000 was paid because due to state law, a public employee charged with a criminal offense who is found innocent is required to have their legal fees paid back by the district, according to Vignuolo.

McHarris is scheduled to be sentenced for his Ocean County offense on May 4.