Ex-teacher is jailed for sexual affair with 15-year-old student

BY JOE MOSZCZYNSKI STAR-LEDGER STAFF

A former teacher at Kittatinny Regional High School was sentenced yesterday to three years in state prison for having sexual relations with a 15-year-old female student during an apparently consensual affair.

James Cunneely, 31, was sent to jail despite a letter written by the victim raising questions about the strength of the state's evidence in the case, as well as a plea that she made in a victim impact statement asking that he not be incarcerated, Said his attorney James Porfido.

While the letter's contents were riot disclosed in court, Superior Court Judge N. Peter Conforti, sitting in Newton, said the girl's mother had described the affair as a "romantic relationship,"

The letter, submitted last month on the day Cunneely was scheduled to be sentenced, prompted a delay in the case, until yesterday, while Cunneely considered whether to withdraw his guilty plea and seek a trial.

Although the girl's letter "re-opened a number of issues," Porfido said Cunneely decided to proceed with the sentencing on a charge of second-degree sexual as-

gree charge punishable by three years in prison.

At yesterday's sentencing, Porfido tried to further reduce the possible prison time, asking Conforti to sentence Cunneely to 364 days in the county jail an a probationary term.

"He never said this did not hap-pen. He has always acknowledged what he did was inappropriate," Porfido told the judge, noting that Cunneely is married and is the father of three young children.

"He's certainly not a predator," he said.

Cunneely, a former Kittatinny Teacher of the Year, was arrested Feb. 5, 2007, after a five-month relationship with the girl, When questioned by police, Cunneely admitted having 15 to 20 sexual trysts with the girl at several motels, in his car, in her bedroom, and even in her mother's bedroom, according to an arrest affidavit.

In arguing for a three-year prison sentence, Sussex County Assistance Prosecutor Francis Koch said Cunneely was warned in December 2006 by administrators at the Hampton Township school to cut off his ties with the girl after they heard rumors that he was something more than just the girl's

Just prior to sentencing, Conforti noted that the girl had been a victim of earlier sexual abuse and Cunneely had claimed that he, too, was abused by his own high school French teacher.

"There was a certain degree of vulnerability on both sides," the judge said.

But Conforti refused to further reduce the jail term, saying it was important for him to send a mesaage.

Kittatinny will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law and will undergo pa-role supervision for life; was ordered to forfeit his teaching job; and was fined more than $2,000.

With a three-year prison sentence, Cunneely likely would be eligible for parole after about nine months of incarceration. He was given credit for the 98 days he al-ready served in the county jail.