NEWARK -- An Essex County judge has awarded $4 million in damages to the family of a disabled man who was sexually assaulted by a former Rutgers-Newark professor.

The mother and brother of the victim, referred to in a related criminal case as "D.J.", filed suit against Anna Stubblefield and Rutgers University in February 2013.

Stubblefield, once the chair of the philosophy department at Rutgers-Newark, was convicted in a high-profile trial last year of sexually abusing D.J., who has cerebral palsy. She's currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.

The family's lawsuit was moved to federal court, where a judge ultimately dismissed the complaint against Rutgers, records show.

But the civil case against Stubblefield continued in state Superior Court, and in a default judgment Oct. 19, Judge Dennis F. Carey III awarded D.J.'s mother and brother -- his legal guardians -- $2 million in compensatory damages, including attorneys fees, and another $2 million in punitive damages.

"My clients are victims of a horrible predator, and they're wonderful people," said attorney Charles S. Lorber in a phone interview Tuesday.

Stubblefield was representing herself in the civil case at the time of the judgment, according to her former attorney, William B. Jones II of Morristown.

Lorber said Stubblefield "basically conceded the case."

"She's got 12 years to think about it, and the judgement is good for 20," Lorber said.

D.J.'s brother, a Rutgers student at the time, met Stubblefield in 2008 when he attended one of her classes, according to the civil complaint.

Stubblefield was a proponent of facilitative communication, a technique that purportedly helps disabled people communicate, often through the use of typing, the complaint states.

D.J.'s brother asked Stubblefield if the technique could be used to help his sibling, and she began working with D.J. regularly at the Rutgers-Newark campus and at the family's home, the complaint states.

The controversial technique would form the core of Stubblefield's defense at her criminal trial, during which she claimed D.J. had communicated his consent to sexual activity.

The family's lawsuit argued Stubblefield's communication with D.J. was all an act, that she violated his rights and that she targeted him for exploitation based on his disability.

Stubblefield, of West Orange, is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.