Metro

NJ private school therapist busted for sexual relationship with teen student

A therapist at a New Jersey private high school was busted for having a sexual relationship with a student — whom she had invited to her home “on more than one occasion,” prosecutors said.

Tara Cardinale, 39, a licensed clinical social worker from Washington Township, was arrested Friday in connection to the illicit relationship with the student, who was under 18 years old, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

The prosecutor’s office did not identify the school where Cardinale worked but court records obtained by NJ.com say it was the New Alliance Academy in Paramus.

Two of the alleged encounters happened at Cardinale’s home, according to the records.

The Paramus Police Department was tipped off about Cardinale’s alleged behavior with the student on December 29, prosecutors said.





Following an investigation, Cardinale was arrested and charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of criminal sexual contact, according to prosecutors.

She was ordered held without bail at the Bergen County Jail pending her first court appearance on Wednesday.

Officials at the New Alliance Academy — described on its website as “a high school for teenagers who experience acute psychological distress” — did not immediately return calls for comment from The Post.





Share this: