Substitute teacher accused of sexual assault by another Passaic County student

Kibret markos

A substitute teacher who was arrested two weeks ago on charges that she sexually assaulted a 16-year-old student at Manchester Regional High School has been arrested again on new charges involving a grade school student in Haledon.

Authorities first arrested Linda Hardan, 21, and accused her of taking a student to a location in Wayne on Nov. 20 and engaging in sex with him. Passaic County prosecutors added sexting charges against Hardan a few days later, alleging that she texted sexually explicit photos to another 16-year-old student at Manchester.

The charges announced Monday involve a 14-year-old eighth grader at a Haledon public school, where Hardan is also a substitute teacher, Passaic County prosecutors said.

The assault took place early last month at a location in Paterson, and authorities learned about it while investigating the earlier charges, said Gyselle DaSilva, a Passaic County senior assistant prosecutor.

Hardan is now charged with aggravated assault, sexual assault and child endangerment. Her bail was set at $300,000, and she is scheduled for an arraignment Tuesday morning in Superior Court in Paterson.

Hardan’s attorney, Aymen Aboushi, said Monday that he does not have any information on the new charges or the alleged victim.

“This was a surprise to us,” he said. “Obviously, we will be entering a not-guilty plea. These allegations seem to be coming from teen-age boys, and we will be reviewing the evidence to get to the truth of the matter.”

Hardan pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges at her Nov. 26 arraignment in Superior Court in Paterson. She was charged with sexual assault, child endangerment and criminal sexual contact in connection with the Nov. 20 incident, and another count of child endangerment in connection with the sexting allegations.

She was released Dec. 2 after posting $200,000 bail. Aboushi said that Hardan was at her Prospect Park home with her family Friday night when police showed up, informed her of the new charges and arrested her.

Manchester Regional High School serves students from Haledon, North Haledon and Prospect Park.

Officials at the school have said Hardan was not an employee of the high school, but was on a list of eligible substitute teachers kept by the Passaic County Education Services Commission. They said she taught only on an as-needed basis.

Source: northjersey