Here’s what to know as the jury starts deliberations in Wasim Muhammad’s civil sex assault trial

A jury began deliberations Monday in the civil trial of Camden’s Advisory School Board president, who is accused by a former student of sexually assaulting her when he was her teacher three decades ago.

After hearing two weeks of testimony in the high-profile case that has garnered national attention, the jury of four men and two women heard closing arguments in the case against Wasim Muhammad on Monday. It deliberated for about an hour before breaking for the day. It will resume Tuesday morning.

Muhammad, 56, a prominent community activist and Muslim minister in Camden, was accused by a former student of sexually abusing her when she was a student at Cooper B. Hatch Middle School.

Then known as Donnie Walker, Muhammad was her seventh-grade social studies teacher in 1994, and abused her for years, even after she moved to the South, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also alleged that school district employees who knew about the relationship failed to stop it. It accuses Muhammad of “willful misconduct” and alleges Camden City School District was “grossly negligent” for failing to supervise Muhammad properly.

During the trial before Superior Court Judge John Kennedy, the jury heard emotional and graphic testimony from the plaintiff, known as Jane Doe in the lawsuit. The Inquirer is not identifying her because it does not name victims in sexual assault cases without their consent.

Among her allegations: She said the two engaged in a threesome with one of his many wives, and that he took the plaintiff to a porn theater and forced her to have sex with a stranger while he watched and masturbated.

“He sexually assaulted her every way imaginable,” said her attorney Jeffrey Fritz.

During Muhammad’s testimony, he told the jury that he began a relationship with his former student when she was 18, when they married under his Islamic faith (she denies that the two were ever married). Muhammad said he is legally married to his childhood sweetheart, Stephanie, and currently has four spiritual wives. Besides the plaintiff, he was married to another woman, but that relationship ended previously, he said.

In closing arguments earlier Monday, lawyers for Muhammad and the Camden school board discussed Muhammad’s marital status. Muhammad has 17 children.

Troy Archie, Muhammad’s lawyer, said his client openly practiced polygamy as allowed by his faith. Muhammad has been a minister at Muhammad’s Temple No. 20 for 15 years.

“It’s not a secret in the city of Camden,” Archie said. “He never hid it.”

Jessica Anderson, a lawyer representing the school board, said the plaintiff was seeking “to equate Islam with pedophilia.” Muhammad testified that he met four of his six wives when they were 18.

Here are the answers to other questions about the case:

Kennedy instructed the jury on the law, reading a six-page charge and reviewing 18 questions on a verdict sheet that the jurors must answer, including whether Muhammad had nonconsensual sex with the plaintiff, caused her harm, and should be held civilly liable.

The jury was also asked to determine whether the school board was grossly negligent because it knew or should have known about the alleged abuse and failed to properly supervise Muhammad when he was employed by the district.

If the jury finds Muhammad or the district liable, it would next determine whether any damages should be awarded to the plaintiff, and if so, how much, and who should pay.

At least five of the jurors must agree on a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, based on a “preponderance of the evidence,” or that the allegations are more likely true than not.

Because the alleged acts in the case occurred more than 30 years ago, the statute of limitations had expired when the plaintiff came forward in 2020.

The plaintiff testified that she tried to file a complaint with Cherry Hill police (some of the alleged sexual assaults occurred at the Feathernest Inn in Cherry Hill), but was told that it was too late to pursue criminal charges.

She testified she was reluctant to contact Camden police because Muhammad, a former star Camden High basketball player, is well-known in the city. She lives in the South.

The woman, now 45, filed the lawsuit under the New Jersey Child Victims Act, a state law passed in 2019 that allows victims of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers up until they turn 55.

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 an older age. Previously, the laws required them to report the abuse by a certain age to file a civil action.

Since the law was passed, hundreds of civil cases have been filed on behalf of child sex abuse victims involving public and private schools and the Roman Catholic Church.

She has an answer when people ask why it took three decades to tell her story:

“I felt very shamed. I felt stupid,” she said in an interview with The Inquirer. “I felt like nobody would believe me.”

She said she was disappointed when a former Hatch teacher who saw her leaving Muhammad’s house when she was a teenager didn’t report her suspicions about possible abuse.

“It made me feel very much like I wasn’t worth saving,” she said. “At the end of the day, I was a child.”

So, she said she tried for years to pretend that the abuse didn’t happen. The mother of three, she said she had nightmares and difficulty sleeping and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

She said she is glad that she took up for herself and filed the lawsuit.

“My 13-year-old self needed me to advocate for her. I want justice,” she said. “I want them to make sure this doesn’t happen again to anyone else.”