'Obsessed' teacher sentenced for sex with student

Ana Garcia (0:00)

A word of warning. This podcast explores graphic and disturbing stories and includes some strong language. It therefore may not be suitable for our young listeners or other folks who may find it disturbing. Hello and welcome to True Crime News, The Podcast, covering high profile and under the radar cases from across the country every week. I'm your host, Ana Garcia.

Our case this week, a New Jersey school teacher has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a 15-year-old male student. The mother of two and wife was obsessed with the boy, says the prosecutor. And the reported digital evidence against her was staggering. Thousands of sexually explicit text messages with the teen and recorded videos of the sexual abuse, say police.

The judge yelled at her at sentencing, telling the former teacher that she ruined the victim. We are recording this on Thursday, September 3rd of 2026 Our guest today is Rachel Fiset, an attorney, a legal analyst that I see at every moment of the day on television, and a dear friend of the show. Rachel, I feel like you're in my life, in my home, everywhere I turn, every case.

Rachel Fiset (1:19)

I love being in your life, Ana. Thank you for having me.

Ana Garcia (1:23)

I love you in my life, too, Rachel.

I know we're obsessed with another case going on today, but we're going to really focus on this one. And I have to tell you, Rachel, I find this woman who has been convicted of being a sexual predator, she's so repulsive to me. I am so angry about this woman.

Because here's the other thing, I believe that there's a true double standard when it comes to sexual abuse of boys versus the sexual abuse of girls.

And also so many people reporting this case, this drives me nuts. They refer to the incidence as sexual relations or that they had sex. No, no, no, no, no, no. This is sexual abuse as defined by the charges, the conviction, and the sentence. I can't stand that, Rachel.

Rachel Fiset (2:18)

I agree with you. And I have a teenage boy, and I can tell you this power dynamic would be life ruining. This sexual assault on him would be life ruining. And when you think of these, the, that she was praying on this, this boy, and this is likely his first experiences in so many ways. And I don't know how he recovers from this.

Ana Garcia (2:47)

I don't know either. I don't know either. And the other thing, and I look this up, you know, I'm sure there'll be people saying, oh, he was 15 Well, hold on a second. That is not the age of consent in New Jersey. It's 16 However, there is a law on the books. I look this up.

In the state of New Jersey, there's a law that says, if the person who is older in this situation holds a supervisory or authority role over the minor, which includes teachers specifically listed, then the age of consent rises to 18

That I thought was fascinating.

Rachel Fiset (3:30)

And that makes a ton of sense.

Given the power dynamic and taking advantage of a student in a place where kids are supposed to be safe. So that makes a lot of sense. They're in a inherent power relationship, and the teacher holds all the power in that relationship.

Ana Garcia (3:53)

Oh, my goodness. I'm so repulsed by this. Well, the convicted here is 45-year-old Allison Havemann-Niedrach. And she has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault. Now, at the time of the abuse, Allison was a mother of two girls, married, worked as a special education teacher at Freehold Intermediate School, and the victim was a 15-year-old student at the time. He was in the eighth grade.

I can't.

I just can't. The Monmouth County Prosecutor says that the abuse occurred over a six-month period beginning in January of 2024, although we believe the grooming likely started much sooner than that. And according to the reporting of the Asbury Park Press, which is a fabulous newspaper, I used to live in New Jersey and I used to live in Monmouth County, the other teachers told the police that they started noticing that Allison was paying special attention to this teen. Rubbing his back. It seemed like she was flirting with him, having lunch with him. The judge said in court that she began grooming him by doing things like this. Showing up at his sporting events and where he worked. And the judge even said she gifted him a sex toy.