N.J. private school teacher sexually abused student decades ago, lawsuit says – NJ.com

A Middlesex County man has filed a lawsuit against two private schools, a day camp and the estate of a teacher he claims sexually abused him four decades ago.

The man, whose name is not disclosed in court papers, alleges a wood-shop teacher at The Pingry School in Basking Ridge molested him repeatedly during the 1981-1982 school year, beginning when the student was 8 years old.

The teacher is identified in the lawsuit as Bruce Bohrer, who was named in a private investigator’s report as one of three teachers who abused children dozens of children at Pingry.

Bohrer, who died on March 2 in Florida at age 78, had publicly denied allegations of misconduct. New Jersey’s criminal court database does not show that Bohrer was ever charged with an indictable offense.

The lawsuit filed Oct. 28 in Superior Court of Essex County accuses Bohrer of being sexually inappropriate with children ranging in age from 8 to 11.

The man who filed the suit claims he was molested the first time when the teacher invited him and other students to a day camp in Randolph during Wednesday overnight sleepovers in the summer of 1981, the suit states.

In the fall of that year, the man’s parents – who were unaware of the alleged abuse – invited Bohrer to babysit and housesit their property, the suit states. Instead, the teacher brought the child to his own home, where sexual assaults allegedly occurred regularly through 1982, the suit states.

In addition to his teaching duties at The Pingry School, Bohrer worked as a bus driver for Newark Academy, a coeducational private day school in Livingston, court papers state.

The teacher allegedly took the victim on the school bus during his routes even though the victim did not attend Newark Academy, the suit states.

“During these bus trips, Bohrer spoke to (the victim) in a sexually graphic and abusive manner, in his further grooming of (the victim),” the lawsuit alleges. On one occasion, Bohrer told the student he “was teaching (the victim) about sex” and that he did the same for other children his age, according to the lawsuit.

In 2016, The Pingry School’s new administration alerted alumni that one of its teachers, Thad P. Alton Jr., who was also a Boy Scout leader, had molested children at the school. The administration then commissioned a private firm from New York to investigate the allegations.

The report, released a year later, found that not only had Alton abused children, but that two others – including Bohrer – had sexually assaulted students at the school.

The report found no reason to believe that Pingry officials were aware of the alleged abuse at the time, except for one board member who heard about Alton’s behavior, but never officially reported it.

In the lawsuit filed Oct. 28, attorneys for the man state that “Pingry gained knowledge of such incidents (of abuse) through its employees and agents, who in turn failed to make reports to legal authorities as required by mandatory reporting laws then existing in New Jersey.”

Due to the abuse, the man has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, ulcerative colitis resulting in the removal of his colon, depression, anxiety, and loss of enjoyment of his life, the lawsuit claims.

A spokeswoman for The Pingry School said in an email that the allegations against Bohrer were detailed in its 2017 report. She declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Donald Austin, head of Newark Academy, released a statement to NJ Advance Media in which he said the school “has the deepest concern and sympathy for anyone who has suffered from past abuse.”

“We recently received a legal complaint with allegations, dating back more than 40 years ago, that names Newark Academy as a defendant,” Austin said. “Regardless of the passage of time, we take this matter very seriously and it is being handled responsibly, with proper care and due diligence.”

The lawsuit alleges assault and battery, negligence, recklessness and violations of New Jersey’s Child Sex Abuse Act and the state’s laws against discrimination.

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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.