A lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in Newark last week claims that Montclair Public Schools permitted an online predator to coerce a 14-year-old girl into engaging in a “provocative, sexual and pornographic” online chat while she was using a district-provided laptop.
“Plaintiff is alleging, among other things, that the school district is responsible because the events happened on a school-issued laptop computer, which did not have proper security to prevent access to the websites at issue, which are universally known vehicles for child sex abuse, child pornography, and human trafficking,” the plaintiff’s attorney, Justin Drazin, of Drazin and Warshaw P.C., said on Monday.
The plaintiff claims in the Aug. 10 lawsuit that during the 2024-25 academic year, the student at Glenfield Middle School went on the online gaming platform Roblox, which allows users to play games the company refers to as “experiences.” While on Roblox, an individual coerced her into downloading the instant messaging app Discord to message and video chat, the lawsuit says.
‘Pornographic Live Chat’
The individual, who is not identified in the complaint, told the teenager that he wanted her to fly out to his home state of Washington, according to the lawsuit.
“The third-party individual also manipulated and/or coerced [the girl] through her school-issued laptop computer to engage in provocative, sexual, and pornographic live chat and other activity,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit names the school district, the school board, then-Interim Glenfield School Principal Marcos Vargas, then-Interim Superintendent Damen Cooper and Superintendent Jonathan Ponds, among other school officials. Cooper served as interim superintendent from July 2024 through June 2025. He resigned from his role as director of secondary education in July of this year. Ponds, who started with the district in 2020, died in July 2024. Vargas was appointed to serve as Glenfield School’s interim principal from August 2024 to June 2025, board records show. He no longer works for the district.
The complaint identifies the plaintiff by initials only.
District’s Response
The district declined to comment.
“On the advice of legal counsel, the district cannot comment on litigation matters,” school district spokesperson Eshaya Draper said.
The lawsuit claims the district failed to “properly supervise, attend to, care for and otherwise provide for the safety” of the student, including by not adequately reporting and recording reports about the safety of children. It further claims the district failed to notify the parents of their daughter’s interactions with an unknown man via the school laptop. The plaintiff also claims the district failed to properly limit and/or monitor students’ internet use.
According to the lawsuit, the district did not have policies in place to monitor the students’ technology use and failed to install filters and/or site-blocking software. The district also failed to implement an internet safety policy addressing the use of email, chat rooms and other forms of electronic communication while on a school-issued laptop, the lawsuit claims.
Training
“Defendants failed to timely and properly educate, train, supervise, and/or monitor their employees with regard to the policies and procedures and rules that should be followed when impermissible online behavior of a child is suspected or observed,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit claims that the student sustained “severe and permanent physical, emotional and psychological injuries.” The plaintiff also seeks damages for medical treatment, including psychological counseling.
Drazin declined to say if authorities identified or prosecuted the person whom his client alleges lured the girl.
Working on Policy
On Aug. 5, Turner said the district is working to develop policies that set guidelines around the use of Chromebooks and other educational devices. Turner said she hopes to have the policy up for board review next month.
It comes amid a wider conversation about online safety that includes holding technology companies accountable.
New N.J. Laws
Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, on Aug. 11 signed into law a bill that officials said codifies the “New Jersey Age-Appropriate Design Code” and requires certain online service providers to design their products with the safety and well-being of minors in mind.
The measure was part of a package of three bills intended to protect New Jersey children online, officials said. It establishes safeguards around interactions between minors and adults, limits the data that companies can collect from children, and requires platforms to set their default privacy settings for children to the highest level, among other protections, officials said.
