Former teacher sentenced for sexual assault

SUPERIOR COURT (NEWARK) — The attorney for a former Sussex County manand Bloomfield High School teacher who was sentenced Monday to seven years in state prison for sexually assaulting two teen boys said his client was subject to that same abuse as a child growing up in a family compound “bordering on imprisonment” in Fredon.

Leo Donaldson, 32, formerly Leo Inglima, appeared Monday in state Superior Court in Newark in front of Judge Richard T. Sules.

Donaldson pleaded guilty in March to aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and official misconduct.

Donaldson was arrested in October 2016 by members of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and indicted by a grand jury on 37 charges last year.

The indictment accused Donaldson of capitalizing on his position as a teacher and coach to coerce male students into various sexual situations, including anal penetration and oral sex.

Donaldson’s attorney, Wolodymyr “Vlad” Tyshchenko, told the New Jersey Herald Wednesday that Donaldson’s request for leniency in court — he asked the judge to consider a five-year sentence — was due to the struggles he had to overcome himself as a victim of sexual abuse.

“He had an extraordinarily difficult and tragic childhood characterized by isolation and bordering on imprisonment on a family compound,” Tyshchenko said.

As a result, Tyshchenko said Donaldson developed “severe mental illness,” which ultimately led to a suicide attempt.

He was also ostracized because he was homosexual, Tyshchenko added.

In court Monday, Tyshchenko stated that Donaldson was also subjected to physical and sexual abuse and torture by two different family members.

Those factors, Tyshchenko said, caused Donaldson’s emotional development to become stunted and his brain to develop “abnormally,” which resulted in Donaldson “failing to appreciate the imbalance of power that existed between him and his victims.”

Donaldson does, however, take full responsibility for his actions and is “deeply remorseful” for having caused any harm to the victims, Tyshchenko added.

Donaldson admitted to assaulting the males between 2015 and 2016 at his Bloomfield home and his previous residence in Jersey City, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release in 2016.

Donaldson, who was immediately suspended from his teaching position at the school in the wake of his 2016 arrest, was mandated to forfeit his public position as part of his guilty plea.

The New Jersey Department of Education’s Board of Examiners made a formal decision in April to revoke his teaching certificates.

Donaldson was an architecture teacher and cross-country and track coach at the school for approximately eight years.

While living in Fredon, Donaldson graduated from Kittatinny Regional High School in 2004.

Sules ordered Donaldson to spend the rest of his life on parole supervision and to register as a Megan’s Law offender when released from prison, according to Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Donaldson’s prison term will fall under the No Early Release Act, which mandates him to serve 85 percent of his term before being eligible for parole, Carter said.

According to a news report, one of two students Donaldson was convicted of assaulting addressed the court.

In his remarks, the boy described how Donaldson had gained his trust as a friend before threatening to kick him off the track team if he didn’t engage in sex acts at Donaldson’s direction.

Sules reportedly stated in court that while Donaldson’s victimization was tragic, it didn’t excuse nor justify his crimes.

Carter said Donaldson’s husband, Bradley Donaldson, was charged in the case with endangering the welfare of a minor but was placed on the pre-trial intervention program for 30 months.

If he successfully completes the program, the charge against him will be dismissed.

Representing the state in the case was Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Celeste Montesino, Carter said.

Tsychchenko said he was not in a position to comment on if he will be appealing the sentence or taking legal action.

 

Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.