Substitute teacher pleads guilty

MANALAPAN- An incident that surprised students and staff members at the Pine Brook School, Pease Road, in December resulted in a guilty plea being entered in state Superior Court on Feb. 25.

According to a press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, Mary Kaminski, 54, of Middletown, admitted to having endangered the welfare of her students in December 2007. Kaminski, who was working as a substitute teacher in a fourth-grade classroom at the Pine Brook School on Dec. 5, entered a guilty plea to one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child during an appearance before Superior Court Judge Francis P. DeStefano in Freehold.

During her guilty plea, Kaminski told DeStefano that she had been consuming alcohol during the morning of Dec. 5 and that she was in fact intoxicated while in the classroom with the fourth-grade pupils. Kaminski further admitted that she put the children at risk of harm by her actions.

An investigation conducted by the Manalapan Police Department had revealed that on Dec. 5, Kaminski was assigned to work as a substitute teacher in a fourth-grade class at the Pine Brook School. As a result of Kaminski's bizarre conduct while teaching the class, several students in her charge became scared and concerned, according to the press release.

The children eventually reported their observations to the principal of the school, who in turn notified police. The investigation also determined that Kaminski was intoxicated at the time she was instructing the class and that she had brought alcohol into the classroom in a travel coffee mug, according to the press release.

In exchange for Kaminski's plea, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office will recommend that she be sentenced to a term of probation conditioned upon alcohol treatment and a psychological evaluation. Furthermore, pursuant to the terms of her plea agreement, Kaminski, who holds a certificate to teach elementary education, will be required to forfeit her certification.

Kaminski is scheduled to be sentenced by DeStefano onMay 23. She remains free on $25,000 bail.

The maximum potential custodial sentence for an individual convicted of thirddegree endangering the welfare of a child is a five-year state prison term. Under New Jersey law a defendant who has not been previously convicted of a crime and who is being sentenced for the third-degree crime of endangering the welfare of a child is entitled to a statutory presumption that a probationary sentence be imposed.

Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin said, "This plea agreement and the accompanying forfeiture of the teaching certification ensures the protection of schoolchildren and also obligates Kaminski to seek appropriate treatment."