Former RBR Substitute Teacher Charged With Having Sex With High School Student

A former substitute teacher at Red Bank Regional High School is facing charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child following allegations he engaged in sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old girl at his home, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Darnell Lewis, 37, of Leighton Ave. in Red Bank, is charged with three counts of second degree sexual assault and one count of second degree child endangerment. Lewis is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $200,000 bail with no 10 percent option, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Angela White Dalton, J.S.C., who also set no victim contact as a condition of bail.

Lewis was formerly employed at the high school as a part-time hall monitor and substitute teacher, and has been an assistant coach for football and basketball. Lewis recently tendered his resignation and has not returned to the school, said the Prosecutor's Office.

Lewis is accused of engaging in sexual intercourse with the girl on at least three occasions between Dec. 31, 2013 and April 2014, following a joint investigation by detectives from Prosecutor Office’s Special Victims Bureau, Red Bank Police Department and the Little Silver Police Department.

If convicted, Lewis faces a state prison term of up to 10 years for each of the second degree charges.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Ellyn Rajfer.