ELIZABETH TWP — Today, a teenager from Elizabeth Forward High School testified against his special education teacher, Nicole Corson, in a preliminary hearing after she was charged with five felonies and two misdemeanor counts relating to inappropriate touching and contact with a student.
Corson is charged intimidation of a child, institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, indecent assault and obstruction administration of law. A charge of endangering the welfare of a child was dismissed today.
During testimony, the teen claimed Corson touched him inappropriately three times. The teen said Corson once backed up into him and brushed her hand over his lap, once on a bus and once in a classroom.
In the complaint, the teen accused Corson of rubbing his leg and back on the bus and running her fingers through his hair.
The bus was equipped with cameras and police testified today that they did not see Corson touching the teen while on the bus.
The teen also told police that Corson sent him nude photos over Snapchat. During a phone dump, police said they did find phone calls, messages and pictures between Corson and the teen during and after school hours, but nothing was sexual in nature. Police said they did not uncover the nude pictures the teen says he received.
The prosecution did not comment after the hearing.
Defense attorney Taylor Staiger said, “All of these incidents, multiple adults and other students were around and nothing came of it then.”
Elizabeth Forward Attorney John Rushford said Corson is still suspended from school and what was said in todays hearing could impact her future with the district.
“We’re very disturbed by what we learned today,” Rushford said. “We fully support the family and the community at large, we do not tolerate any type of activity like this. We take it very seriously.”
A formal arraignment for Corson is scheduled for May 13.
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