Passaic High School teacher charged with sending sexually inappropriate texts to two students

PASSAIC — A Passaic High School teacher was arrested after being accused of having sexually inappropriate conversations and behavior with two teenage students, authorities said.

Jose Maria, 39, was arrested Wednesday and charged with four counts of second degree endangering the welfare of a child, a second-degree crime, and one count of official misconduct for sexually inappropriate conversations and behavior with the two alleged victims, according to a statement. The two teenagers were students at the Passaic High School at the time of the allegations.

The investigation was set off by a family member of one of the alleged victims discovering some old text messages from Maria, said Chris Fried, Chief Assistant Prosecutor of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.

The alleged inappropriate behavior took place between 2010 and 2012, according to the statement. The texts discovered dated back to those years, said Fried.

A spokesperson for the Passaic Public Schools declined to comment other than to say the school district was cooperating with the prosecutor's office.

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Maria's arrest was the result of a joint investigation by the Passaic Police Department, Passaic County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit and the Department of Children and Families Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit. Upon receiving notification of the messages, the investigation took a day and a half, said Fried.

Maria was scheduled to appear in Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. He was expected to be released later that day, said Fried.

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