Ex-teacher reportedly asked her former student to recant

A month before her trial on sexual assault charges is to begin, an ex-Paterson teacher allegedly asked a former student to recant the allegations for the sake of her three children, according to court records.

"During the conversations, Jodi Thorp told J.M. that she would go away to prison for a long time and that her children would have no one to raise them" unless the alleged victim, now 19, wrote a letter saying they had not had a sexual relationship, an investigator's sworn statement said. "She stated she would commit suicide if sent to prison." The comments attributed to Thorp, 39, of Mendham Township, were part of an arrest affidavit for 19-year-old Jose Ramirez of Paterson, who is accused of facilitating the conversations between Thorp and the alleged victim on Aug. 6.

Authorities claim Thorp had sex with her former student at least 20 times over 16 months, beginning in June 2001 when he was 14. She was arrested in February 2003, and is scheduled to go to trial for first-degree aggravated sexual assault on Sept. 7. Morris County Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Redden would not say if Thorp would be charged with witness tampering, as Ramirez was, but said the investigation is ongoing.

Thorp already is charged with witness tampering, accused in an indictment of calling the teen and his mother numerous times after her arrest to convince them not to cooperate with investigators. Defense attorney Robert Dunn said the charges against Ramirez so close to trial "sort of complicates everything. I don't know what effect it will have on the trial date."

Dunn said Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto scheduled a meeting for this morning with him and Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Foy, and that he expected the Ramirez arrest would be a topic.

Looks like it pays to have your trial postponed. Back in 2004 she turned down a plea deal for 5 years and now pleads guilty to child endangerment and may get one year. This teacher is even luckier Teacher Molests Student, No Jail Time

Teacher admits to fondling a former student

Thorp now faces one year in jail on guilty plea of child endangerment

After years of denying she had had sex with a former student, a former Paterson teacher admitted yesterday that she fondled the teenager. Jodi Thorp, 39, of Mendham Township, faces a year in the Morris County Jail for her guilty plea to child endangerment, which came three weeks before her trial for first-degree aggravated assault was to begin. Thorp quietly answered questions posed by defense attorney Robert Dunn, acknowledging that she touched the "sexual area" of the teenager when he was at her home -- first for a gifted and talented program and then to live there -- between June 2001 and October 2002.

Thorp, the mother of three children under age 3, will have to register as a sex offender and give up her teaching license under the plea deal. She will also be placed on community supervision for life. Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto had summoned Dunn and Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Foy to court yesterday, after allegations came to light that Thorp had contacted the victim Aug. 6 and asked him to recant his story for the sake of her children. As part of the plea offer, the prosecutor's office agreed not to charge Thorp with witness tampering.

The victim, now 19, and his mother, were relieved the case ended in a guilty plea, family attorney Alan Bonder said. "It's been traumatic to both of them, and I don't think they wanted to have to go through a trial," Bonder said. It was important to them that she never teach again and that she register as a sex offender, he said. Bonder filed a notice of intent to sue the Paterson School District for $1.5 million in 2004, but has been waiting for the criminal matter to be resolved before pursuing litigation, he said. The trial, twice postponed be cause of Thorp's pregnancies, would have come down to the victim's word against hers, although Ahto had agreed to allow other teenagers to testify that Thorp played Twister in "booty shorts" and danced provocatively with boys. "We're convinced that by ensuring that the defendant will be convicted for illegal sexual conduct, will be subject to Megan's Law and will not teach again, the public will be protected and she will be adequately punished," Morris County Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Redden said.

The boy had been in Thorp's seventh-grade social studies class during the 1999-2000 school year and was one of the first students to join a program she started to give grammar and high school students in Paterson's gifted and talented program cultural and educational experiences. She had students spend weekends in her Tingley Road home, and she took them on trips to museums, science centers and historic sites, Dunn said. The teenager moved into Thorp's home in September 2002, after his mother signed over custody to Thorp so he could attend West Morris Mendham High School, authorities said. During this 16 month period, the prosecution claimed Thorp had sex with the boy at least 20 times, beginning in June 2001 when he was 14. She was arrested in February 2003, and was scheduled to go to trial Sept. 7.

Thorp had maintained her innocence, rejecting a plea deal in 2004 that would have sent her to state prison for five to 10 years.

The victim once before recanted his allegations in a June 2003 letter, according to Dunn. On Aug. 6, authorities say, he wrote another letter and gave a taped statement saying there was no sexual relation ship between him and Thorp after she asked him to do so. The prosecution claims 19-year-old Jose Ramirez, another of Thorp's former students, went to the victim's house in Paterson and while there, called Thorp on his cell phone and turned on the speaker so the victim could hear her. Thorp said she faced a long time in prison and that her children would have nobody to raise them, according to the arrest affidavit charging Ramirez with witness tampering. "She stated she would commit suicide if sent to prison," the arrest affidavit said. The victim wrote a letter and gave a taped statement to the defense's private investigator, but he later told a police detective he had only done so because Thorp had made him feel guilty.

Bonder, the victim's attorney, said the teenager pities Thorp, but he also is angry and hurt. As for him recanting, "I think he was manipulated into it," Bonder said. Thorp previously was charged with witness tampering, accused of calling the victim and his mother numerous times after her arrest to convince them not to cooperate with investigators. That charge and seven others will be dismissed at her sentencing, which Ahto scheduled for Sept. 15.

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