Civil trial set to begin for Camden school board advisory president accused of sexually abusing his former student

Wasim Muhammad, the Camden School Advisory Board president, heads to trial this week in a civil lawsuit by a former student alleging she was sexually abused by him when he was her teacher three decades ago.

Muhammad, a minister and prominent community activist in the city, faces trial in Superior Court scheduled to begin Monday before Judge John S. Kennedy in a case that has rocked Camden. The lawsuit alleges that the sexual abuse started in 1994 when he was her middle school teacher and continued even after she moved out of state. District employees who knew about it failed to stop it, according to the lawsuit.

Now 45, the woman filed the lawsuit under a state law passed in 2019 that allows victims of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers up until they turn 55. She tried to lodge criminal charges in 2020, but the statute of limitations had expired.

“It’s being brought now because finally it can be,” said her lawyer Jeffrey P. Fritz. “She’s going to tell the truth and the horror that she went through.”

Married and the mother of two teenage sons, the woman lives in the South, where she is a kindergarten teacher. The Inquirer is not identifying her because it does not name victims in sexual assault cases without their consent. She is named Jane Doe in the lawsuit.

An 18-page lawsuit filed in 2021 accuses Muhammad of sexually abusing her for years, beginning when she was an eighth grader at Cooper B. Hatch Middle School. She alleges he groomed her for the abuse by singling her out for special attention.

She alleges that Muhammad “coerced” her to engage in sexual activity with him and one of his Islamic wives and took her to a pornography theater where he forced her to have sex with a stranger while Muhammad watched and masturbated.

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Fritz said she is expected to take the stand in the case. According to her deposition, she suffers from nightmares and post-traumatic distress.

Muhammad, who has denied the allegations in court filings, is expected to take the stand, according to the defense witness list. He did not respond to a message seeking comment. His lawyer, Troy Archie, has said the allegations were “frivolous and meritless and based on circumstantial evidence lacking legitimate facts.”

In a deposition last August, Muhammad said he was surprised by the allegations by his former student.

“I was taken aback at it, but you know being in politics, it comes with the nature of it, especially being a Black man in politics, as well and a Muslim at that,” he said.

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In addition to Muhammad, the lawsuit names the South Jersey school system. It alleges that at least one sexual encounter occurred on school property. An arbitrator who reviewed the files and depositions recommended a $1 million settlement that would have made Muhammad liable for 60% of that amount, but that offer was rejected.

The jury will decide whether anyone should be held civilly liable and whether damages should be awarded. The trial is expected to last about two weeks. Lawyers for the district didn’t respond to messages.

In the deposition, Muhammad contends he married the plaintiff under the Muslim faith when she turned 18. She denies that. Muhammad, a minister at Muhammad’s Temple No. 20 for 15 years, said he has a legal wife and four Islamic wives.

Muhammad declined to answer a question from Fritz during the deposition about whether he had “ever engaged in sexual activity with [Jane Doe] and another of your wives simultaneously?”

“Can I plead the Fifth on that one, sir?” Muhammad asked.

Muhammad took a leave of absence from the advisory board in January, pending the outcome of the case. Gov. Phil Murphy called for his resignation citing “the appalling and heinous nature” of allegations against Muhammad.

Muhammad has served on the school advisory board since 2013 and has been president since 2020. Because the district is under state takeover, the board serves in an advisory capacity and has no real authority to make and enact changes.

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The alleged acts began when the woman was 14, according to the lawsuit. Muhammad, who was known then as Donald Walker, told her that he “liked” her and that she was beautiful. He would give her “incessant compliments” and find excuses for her to stay after class, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, Muhammad allegedly took her to the Feather Nest Inn in Cherry Hill as well as other motels and his home. The alleged sexual abuse continued when the girl enrolled in nearby Camden High School as a freshman, and continued when she moved to the South with her family, the lawsuit said.

Another Hatch teacher, Nicole Batts Brown, said in a deposition that she saw the girl and Muhammad leaving his home on Baird Boulevard during the school day and later questioned her about it, court documents say. The girl denied it was her. The teacher told the girl’s mother about it and she again denied it, the lawsuit said.

Muhammad, in his deposition, said he had a brief romantic relationship with Brown, who is on the witness list for this week’s trial. He said the relationship ended partly because she was not a Muslim.

“Just trying to, you know, struggle as a man, an imperfect man, to do right, to do the right thing, especially in an environment where you have to work at,” he said.

After she turned 18, the plaintiff said Muhammad convinced her to return to New Jersey to live with him. Muhammad said the relationship ended because his legal wife objected.

“She didn’t, I would say, you know, really approve of me taking on another wife … other than the [second] wife I had at the time,” he said.

Fritz filed a motion earlier this month seeking to introduce a settlement the district reached in another sexual abuse case from the 1990s to bolster his contention that the district should have enacted policy changes to protect his client.

Camden reached a $3.2 million settlement in 2022 with a former Woodrow Wilson High School student who said she was sexually abused by John Hovington, her former track coach. The district made no admission of liability.

“They need to learn from this,” Fritz said.

Hovington was criminally tried three times for aggravated sexual assault: A guilty verdict was overturned on appeal, the jury deadlocked in his second trial, and he was acquitted the third time in 1994.

New Jersey is among about a dozen states that have adopted laws making it easier for child sexual abuse victims to seek justice in civil court years after the abuse occurred. Experts say victims are often unable to disclose the trauma they experienced until they reach an older age.

“These victims of child sex abuse now have a voice,” said John Baldante, a Haddonfield attorney whose firm represents hundreds of child sexual abuse victims.