Paul Yang

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

A 32-year-old New Jersey teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting a 9-year-old student, authorities said.

Paul Yang, of Leonia, carried out the act inside of a classroom in Paterson in October, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said.

The Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency told detectives that the 9-year-old “had disclosed that an incident of abuse took place inside a classroom during the school day,” on Oct. 22, the prosecutor said.

Yang was arrested on Wednesday, Dec. 3 and charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, Valdes said.

Yang is listed as a fourth-grade teacher on the School No. 25 website.

The sentencing exposure is five to ten years in New Jersey State Prison on the second-degree sexual assault charge and five to ten years in New Jersey State Prison on the second-degree endangering charge, the prosecutor’s office said. 

On Thursday, Dec. 4, Yang appeared in Central Judicial Processing Court, and the State filed a Motion for Pretrial Detention that will be scheduled and heard before a Superior Court judge, officials said.