The Sayreville middle school teacher and longtime wrestling coach at multiple schools arrested on sexual assault charges Saturday was offering private wrestling lessons at his home to a former student when the sexual abuse occurred in October 2016, authorities said.

John M. Denuto, 45, a special education middle school math teacher, exchanged numbers with the Sayreville middle school student after eighth grade graduation in June 2016 and offered the private coaching, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by authorities in support of the charges.

While at Denuto’s Sayreville home in October 2016, Denuto molested and sexually assaulted the student, authorities said. The student, who was between the ages of 13 and 15 at the time, told police the assaults occurred on more than one occasion and at some points, the student’s eyes were covered, authorities said. Denuto also recorded the encounters, authorities said.

Denuto’s cell phone was seized by police on Jan. 9 and video was recovered, police said. The student’s gender was not specified in court documents.

Denuto, now a Spotswood resident, was arrested Saturday on sexual assault and child pornography charges, Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said. Denuto is currently being held in the Middlesex County jail ahead of a pre-trial detention hearing scheduled for Friday. A first appearance took place via video on Sunday, officials said.

He has been suspended from his teaching job with pay, Sayreville Superintendent Dr. Richard Labbe previously said. Labbe declined to comment Tuesday on the additional details revealed in the court documents.

Denuto’s lawyer, Edward Bilinkas, said his client denies the allegations. Bilinkas said that he has seen an “unbelievable amount of support” from former students and wrestlers.

“People are flooding my phone trying to say nice things about this guy,” Bilinkas said, asking that people not “jump to conclusions.”

Union County College fired Denuto as the school’s wrestling coach after his arrest Saturday.

In 2009, Denuto was transferred from Sayreville War Memorial High School to the middle school and removed as the high school wrestling coach after a number parents of wrestlers filed complaints of inappropriate behavior. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and Division of Youth and Family Services investigated those complaints and no action was taken, according to a lawsuit Denuto filed against the school.

Complaints made by the parents against Denuto included a number of abusive coaching tactics like faking hydration tests and instructing injured wrestlers to compete, as well as “illegal strip searches,” conversations about Denuto’s sex life, and inappropriate text messages, according to court records.

In his lawsuit, Denuto said “skin checks” were conducted within accepted guidelines for wrestling coaches. A civil lawyer who represented Denuto during those lawsuits, who is not representing him criminally, declined to comment Monday night.

After being fired from coaching in Sayreville, Denuto served as the head coach at Pennsville and Camden Catholic high schools, and held several assistant coaching positions at high schools around the state. During his coaching career he was head coach at eight different high schools.

Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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