| Princeton teacher charged in online sex chat with boys By: Rachel Silverman, Staff Writer 07/01/2005 A John Witherspoon Middle School teacher was arrested for engaging in "sexually based correspondence" with two 13-year-old boys, police reported Thursday. Kathleen Rose Bowler, 28, a substitute modern-living teacher and wrestling coach at the middle school during the just-concluded school year, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor. She was arrested 10 a.m. June 24 and was arraigned on Tuesday. According to Princeton Township Police, Ms. Bowler communicated with the boys online — through e-mail and instant messages — and through letters, but did not engage in any type of inappropriate physical relationship with them. In a phone conversation Thursday afternoon, Detective Sgt. Ernie Silagyi declined to say if the two boys were John Witherspoon students. Princeton Regional School District Superintendent Judy Wilson said that to her knowledge, the correspondence was held off school property and outside school hours. "My understanding is that it was very isolated," she said, a conclusion shared by Detective Sgt. Silagyi. "It appears they did not take place during school hours," the detective said. "They were from her home computer." Although police said the correspondences began in February, the school district did not know about Ms. Bowler's actions until much more recently, Ms. Wilson said. "The allegations were first reported to district administrators after the last day of school on June 16, 2005, and were immediately reported to the police by school officials," a news release issued by the school district stated. "An adult reported a concern after school closed," Ms. Wilson confirmed. "That very day, we turned it over to the police. "We had no reasons whatever to have any concerns prior to last week," Ms. Wilson added. The news release also said that Ms. Bowler will not be returning to the district next year "for reasons unrelated to these charges." Ms. Bowler, a Plainsboro resident, was released on $25,000 bail on the condition that she not engage in unsupervised contact with children under age 18, police said. Police said she also is not allowed to have Internet access. Ms. Wilson said the district is lending its services to the students affected, but that the families are also "handling it individually." "We will be able to handle some services during the summer," she said. In an e-mail message, Ms. Wilson stressed "the importance of parents speaking to children about the dangers as well as the values of the Web and about that fact that anything they write or any site they visit is retrievable/trackable." She added that parents and children must also come to grips with "the tragic truth that even adults in whom they should be able to have complete faith and trust are sometimes unworthy of that faith or trust." Police said the investigation — conducted by Sgt. Scott Walter and Detective Annette Henderson — is ongoing. "We've been interviewing individuals and retrieving information from the victims' computers," Detective Sgt. Silagyi said. "If someone feels they are a victim, they should contact us," he added, noting that such individuals should contact the juvenile bureau at (609) 921-2100, ext. 803. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm? newsid=14790479&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=425695&rfi=6 |