Former Toms River, NJ, Teacher Found Guilty on 18 Counts of Sexual Assault
A former high school teacher in Toms River has been found guilty on a total of 18 counts for sexually assaulting a minor over the course of two years.
Following a three-week trial, 71-year-old Raymond Waters of Pawlet, VT, was found guilty on five counts of aggravated sexual assault and thirteen counts of sexual assault.
A jury in Ocean County concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that between September 2002 and September 2004, Waters sexually assaulted a minor in Toms River, Barnegat, and Hillsborough Townships.
In January 2014, the victim told authorities at the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office that he had been sexually assaulted by Waters and Waters' husband, 76-year-old Allen Harbatuk of Hillsborough.
A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau revealed that the victim met Waters in 2002 when he was 14 years-old - while Waters was his art teacher at Toms River High School North. Further investigation revealed that Waters sexually assaulted the victim at Toms River High School North, the Joseph A. Citta Boy Scout Reservation in Barnegat Township, and Water’s then-residence in Hillsborough.
Additionally, authorities say Water's husband, Harbatuk, sexually assaulted the victim at the Citta Boy Scout Reservation and their Hillsborough residence.
On October 22, 2014, both Waters and Harbatuk were arrested at their home in Hillsborough by detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and Hillsborough Township Police Department. They were transferred to the Ocean County Jail and subsequently released on bail.
In 2018, Harbatuk was found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to seven years in state prison.
The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office did not indicate when sentencing will occur.
