Former Toms River teacher found guilty of sexually assaulting student in 2002

TOMS RIVER - A former teacher at Toms River High School North has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teen multiple times, starting when he was his student in 2002, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Thursday.

Raymond Waters, 71, now of Pawlet, Vermont, was found guilty of five counts of aggravated sexual assault and 13 counts of sexual assault, Billhimer said, for sexually assaulting a minor in Toms River, Barnegat and Hillsborough between September 2002 and September 2004.

Waters’ husband, Allen Harbatuk, 76, of Hillsborough, had previously been convicted in 2018 of sexually assaulting the teen as well.

The abuse came to light in January 2014, when the victim went to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office to report that he had been sexually assaulted by Waters and Harbatuk from 2002 to 2004.

An investigation found that the victim met Waters in 2002 when he was 14, while Waters was his art teacher at Toms River North, Billhimer said. Waters sexually assaulted the victim at the school, the Joseph A. Citta Boy Scout Reservation in Barnegat and at Waters' then-residence in Hillsborough.

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According to Billhimer, the investigation also determined that Waters' husband, Harbatuk, sexually assaulted the victim at the Boy Scout Reservation and the Hillsborough residence. On October 22, 2014, Waters and Harbatuk were arrested at their residence in Hillsborough, taken to the Ocean County Jail and released on bail.

On June 21, 2018, Harbatuk was found guilty of sexual assault, Billhimer said. On November 2, 2018, he was sentenced to seven years in state prison.

According to Bryan Huntenburg, a spokesperson for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the trial was delayed due to Waters' health issues, the COVID-19 pandemic and the attorneys' schedules.

Waters was taken to Ocean County Jail in Toms River pending sentencing, which has yet to be given a date, the prosecutor said.

This is the second time in two months that the Toms River Regional School District has made headlines because a teacher has been accused of sexual misconduct.

Last month, Kyle Banner, 48, of Brick, a teacher at Toms River Intermediate North and Ocean County College, surrendered to authorities following an investigation that began in April, when administrators at Intermediate North were alerted to an alleged pornographic photograph posted to Banner's public Twitter account.

Banner was charged with official misconduct and three counts of child endangerment after the Prosecutor's Office said he took pornographic photos of himself in his classroom.

He was been suspended without pay from his teaching position pending the outcome of the criminal charges against him.

The school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Jenna Calderón covers breaking news and cold cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before coming to the Press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Contact her at 330-590-3903; jcalderon@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Former Toms River teacher found guilty of sexually assaulting student