Fourth-Grade Teacher Charged with Sexual Assault of 9-Year-Old Girl in New Jersey

New Jersey authorities have apprehended a fourth-grade teacher on charges of allegedly sexually assaulting one of his young students, with the alleged incident occurring in his own classroom — and a second student present.

Paul Yang, 32, from Leonia, was arrested by officers on Wednesday, December 3, following an investigation by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit.

As noted in a statement from Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, detectives initially received a tip regarding a potential child assault in Paterson on October 22.

Tipsters reported that a 9-year-old female student at Paterson Public School No. 25 disclosed an instance of abuse that occurred during school hours in her classroom.

The investigation resulted in Yang being charged with one count each of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

If found guilty, Yang could face up to 20 years in prison, Valdes explained in a statement regarding the arrest.

It was unclear on Monday whether Yang remained in police custody, but during his initial court appearance on Thursday, December 4, prosecutors sought pretrial detention.

It was also unknown if a judge had approved that request. Jail records accessed by Us Weekly do not list Yang among their detainees.

Yang had been a fourth-grade teacher in the Paterson School District since 2021 and was terminated on the day of his arrest.

The Bergen Record reports that a second child was in the classroom during the alleged assault but was situated behind “test blinders” that Yang had set up.

Citing court documents, the Bergen Record reported that Yang had the other student take their test at the front of the room, while he took the 9-year-old to the back, claiming he had “a treasure box with two lollipops left, a lemon one and a grape one,” referring to them as Korean candy.

The court filing alleged that Yang removed a piece of silk fabric from his pocket to blindfold the girl. He then reportedly asked her to guess the flavor of the lollipop he had. However, the blindfold slipped, and the girl allegedly saw the teacher pull down his pants before rubbing the grape lollipop against his genitals, according to the Bergen Record.

He then offered her the lollipop, but she declined, as reported by the Record from an arrest affidavit. The student “tried to act normal but was nervous,” the charging documents state. Yang allegedly then dismissed both children from the classroom.

Another teacher informed investigators that one of the students became “inconsolable” upon returning to their regular class, according to the charges.

Us Weekly has not been able to confirm whether Yang has retained legal counsel.

Attempts to reach Yang at the listed phone numbers were met with disconnected or incorrect information.

The Paterson Board of Education did not respond to inquiries regarding the arrest.

Anyone with information relevant to this case is encouraged to contact Passaic County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Jessica Petrella at jpetrella@passaiccountynj.org or (973) 247-3330.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please reach out to the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).