A married former New Jersey teacher whose husband proposed to her in class allegedly sexually abused a teenage student in the same room.
Ashley Fisler, 36, was arrested and charged with six counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor, one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and one count of second-degree official misconduct on Thursday, and faces 20 years in jail.
Fisler’s alleged victim, who is now an adult, recently went to police and alleged they were in an “inappropriate relationship” while he was in her social studies class at Orchard Valley Middle School in Washington Township, Gloucester County, in 2021.
According to court documents, Fisler allegedly sent nude photographs to the boy, and the pair had sexual intercourse and oral sex in her car, and she twice performed oral sex on him in her classroom, the New York Post reported.
A photo from 2018 shows Fisler’s husband Paul proposing to her on bended knee in the same classroom while students watched on, and the couple posed for another photo in front of lockers where she showed off the engagement ring.
Fisler denied all the allegations in a statement to police on March 19, the court documents stated, and her lawyer Rocco Cipparone said she plans to fight the charges and apply for bail.
She is currently behind bars in Salem County Jail where prosecutors want her held without bail pending trial.
Mr Cipparone said he believed there were “strong reasons to have her released” and was optimistic about her chances for bail.
“She has no prior criminal record, she has been a lifelong resident of New Jersey, she is a property owner, her entire family is here, [and] she is not a risk of flight,” he said.
“These allegations go back five years. You have this five-year gap where now all of a sudden they are going to say she is a danger to the community,”
While at the school Fisler was praised as a “great teacher” who “prides herself in making personal connections with all her students”, but went on to leave in 2023 and launch her own company selling unofficial Philadelphia Eagles merchandise.
Her LinkedIn profile also lists her as a business administrator for her husband’s landscaping business, based in Sewell, New Jersey.
Header image: Left, the classroom proposal. Right, Ashley Fisler (Facebook).
