Ashly Fisler, a former middle school teacher in New Jersey, is facing a new indictment over an alleged illegal relationship with a student. The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office announced that Fisler, 36, will be tried on a 12-count indictment including charges of producing child abuse material.
According to the prosecutor's office, the victim, now an adult, told police that an illegal sexual relationship occurred while Fisler was her teacher at Orchard Valley Middle School and she was a minor. The victim alleged that multiple sexual encounters took place in Fisler's car and classroom in 2021.
Text messages seized during the investigation were said to reveal the illegal nature of the relationship. According to NJ Advance Media, Fisler allegedly continued exchanging thousands of messages, mostly explicit in nature, with the victim even after she moved to high school. The approximately 7,500-page transcript of messages includes a section where the former student wrote that the teacher had mentally devastated her.
Defense attorney Rocco Cipparone, however, argued that the prosecutor's office lacks evidence to support the allegations, claiming the quoted messages were taken out of context. Cipparone previously stated in court, "The selected and explicit messages read by the prosecutor lack context."
Fisler was arrested in March on charges including first-degree sexual assault of a minor, endangering the welfare of a child, and official misconduct. The new indictment adds charges of second-degree official misconduct, first-degree production of child abuse material, third-degree possession of child abuse material, and distributing obscenity to a minor.
Each first-degree offense carries up to 20 years in prison, second-degree up to 10 years, and third-degree up to 5 years.
Fisler worked as a social studies teacher for the Washington Township school district from 2014 until June 2023. Officials stated she no longer works for that district or any other.
