A special education teacher at an intermediate school in New Jersey was arrested for an alleged sexual relationship with a student, according to authorities. 43-year-old Allison Havemann-Niedrach at Freehold Intermediate School was charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced.

According to theNew York Post, she was arrested earlier this week after an investigation revealed that she allegedly began sexually abusing her student earlier this year. However, authorities did not say how the conduct came to light or how many times she had assaulted the student. The age of the alleged victim has also not been revealed, but grades six through eight attend Freehold Intermediate School.

She is currently being held at the Monmouth County jail in Freehold Township, pending a first appearance and detention hearing. A hearing will be conducted to determine whether she will continue to be detained while awaiting trial. 

The prosecutor’s office asked members of the public to provide more information about her activities. ”Anyone with information about Havemann-Niedrach’s activities is being urged to contact MCPO Detective Dawn Correia at 800-533-7443,” the release read. 

As per her LinkedIn profile, Havemann-Niedrach has been a special education teacher at Freehold Intermediate School since March 2022. She has been a teacher or a substitute teacher at several schools dating back to 2008, according to her profile.

The teacher describes herself as: “Passionate, results-driven, and sincere educator. Poised and competent and thrives in performance-driven environments. Demonstrated history of a ‘do what it takes’ work ethic and truly differentiated instruction.”

After the arrest, Asia Michael, the superintendent of the Freehold Borough School District sent an email to staff and parents that read, ”We have been informed that a former staff member has been arrested on allegations of third-degree aggravated sexual assault and inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor. 

Please be assured that our district has been fully cooperative with the prosecutor’s office since the outset of this investigation. The safety and well-being of our students and staff have been our top priority, and we took immediate measures to ensure their protection.”

The teacher’s attorney, meanwhile, said in a statement that she ”maintains her innocence” and refused to comment further. 

 

New York:

An Indian-origin woman was killed and another critically injured after they were shot in the US state of New Jersey, allegedly by a 19-year-old Indian-origin man, according to authorities.

The shooting occurred on June 12 in northeastern Middlesex County, the county prosecutor said in a press release.

Responding to the shooting report, officers located two female victims who had sustained gunshot wounds and airlifted them to the hospital in critical condition.

Jasvir Kaur, 29, of Carteret, was pronounced dead at the hospital, while the other victim, a 20-year-old woman, was in critical condition, it said.

The other victim was Kaur’s cousin, according to CBS News.

“They’re just laid out on the driveway. They weren’t really moving,” the report quoted a neighbour as saying.

Police arrested Gaurav Gill later in the day in connection with the shooting.

He was on the run for hours and was cornered by law enforcement in a backyard about a half mile from where the shooting happened, the report said.

Gill, a resident of Kent, was charged with “one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, one count of fourth-degree possession of a high-capacity magazine and one count of first-degree attempted murder,” the press release said last week.

Gurmukh Singh, the owner of the house where the two women were living together, described Kaur as a hard worker and nice person, the report said.

The motive for the shooting was not immediately known and it was unclear how or if the suspect knew the victims, it said.

Police have said that the investigation is “active and continuing” and have urged people with information to call and reach out to authorities. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Jersey:

Hours after a 4.8-magnitude earthquake, New Jersey was hit by another aftershock of 4.0 on Friday (local time), authorities confirmed.

“New Jersey just experienced an aftershock. Please follow the emergency guidance below and avoid calling 911 unless you have an actual emergency,” the Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy wrote on X.

Governor of the New York State, Kathy Hochul also confirming the same wrote on X, “A 4.0 magnitude aftershock from this morning’s earthquake in New Jersey just occurred.”

“We are continuing to review critical infrastructure and there are no reports of significant damage at this time,” she said.

The aftershock hit the same area of New Jersey as earlier, just before 6 pm on Friday (local time).

The epicentre of the aftershock was said to be 7.4 miles northwest of Bridgewater, which is just over the county line in Somerset County. The aftershock was significantly deeper than the initial quake, about 5.6 miles deep, which explains why it wouldn’t have been felt by many, according to NBC New York.

Notably, it was the second aftershock reported. Earlier, a much smaller aftershock of magnitude 2.0, was reported by the USGS in Bedminster, New Jersey, around 11:20 am.

The US Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that the earthquake that affected several regions in the US might impact some air traffic facilities in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

“A 4.8 magnitude earthquake in New Jersey may impact some air traffic facilities in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Air traffic operations are resuming as quickly as possible,” the FAA posted on X.

The 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck 7 km north-northeast of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, on Friday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The quake occurred at 19:53:20 (UTC) and its depth was registered at 116.5 km.According to the USGS, the earthquake’s epicentre was found at 40.683°N latitude and 74.753°W longitude, respectively.

The New York Police Department stated that there were no damages or injuries reported, according to CNN.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Calling the recent crimes against Sikhs in New York and other parts of the U.S. “reprehensible” acts of hate and violence, the mayor of Hoboken city in the U.S. State of New Jersey expressed concern over the rising hate crimes against the minority community in the country.

Mayor Ravi. S. Bhalla’s October 22nd statement came days after he opened up about being the target of a series of letters that threatened to kill him and his family.

The letters that he received last year first called on Mr. Bhalla to resign but then began threatening his and his family’s life, targeting him for his Sikh faith, CBS News reported.

“I am disturbed and saddened by the recent hate crimes that have shaken the Sikh community in Richmond Hill, New York, where one Sikh man was assaulted and an attempt was made to forcibly remove his turban, and another senior Sikh individual was subjected to a violent assault and died of his injuries,” Mr. Bhalla said in the statement.

A 19-year-old Sikh boy was assaulted and injured in New York on October 18 for wearing a turban while travelling in a shuttle bus. A 26-year-old man was later arrested and charged with a hate crime for the attack.

“These reprehensible acts of hate and violence strike at the heart of our shared American values of unity, diversity, and acceptance,” said Mr. Bhalla, the only Sikh American Mayor in the U.S.

“In these moments, it is important that we come together to reaffirm our shared commitment to fostering a climate of understanding and compassion for our friends and neighbours everywhere,” he said.

“As a public official and Hoboken’s Mayor, I pledge to speak out and take action against any form of hatred, intolerance, or discrimination and to remember that diversity is our strength,” said Mr. Bhalla.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel, there has been a sudden spurt in hate crimes against the Sikh community in the U.S.

“I had seen the 9/11 time when we were at the forefront of hate crime because of our appearance. People co-relate us with the radical Islamic people,” said Gurinder Singh Khalsa, founder and chairman of the Sikhs Political Action Committee.

“We request all the Sikh community to be alert and immediately alert law enforcement agencies in the case of an untoward incident,” said Mr. Khalsa, who had launched a nationwide campaign that forced the federal government to bar law enforcement agencies from screening or touching pagris (turban) of Sikhs entering the security screening at airports.

“The recent surge in hate crime attacks against the Sikhs in the U.S. is unfortunate. It’s an alarming situation. We urge the Biden Administration and all the State Governments to take steps to prevent any such hate crimes and immediately bring to book those responsible for it,” said Jassee Singh, chairman of the ‘Sikhs of America’ organisation.

Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released its annual report of hate crimes statistics, reflecting information about hate crimes for 2022. It said anti-Sikh hate crime victimisations were recorded as the highest number ever at 198, and Sikhs remain the second-most targeted group in the nation for religiously-motivated hate crime incidents.

New Delhi:

The United States is set to get its largest temple next month. The BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, located 90 m south of Times Square in New Jersey, will be formally inaugurated on October 8.

The 183-acre temple took nearly 12 years to be built and its construction involved over 12,500 volunteers from across the US.

Located in New Jersey’s Robbinsville Township, the temple is possibly the second largest after Angkor Wat in Cambodia, a UNESCO World Heritage site spanning across 500 acres.

The Akshardham temple in Delhi is spread over 100 acres.

The Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in US has been designed as per the ancient Indian culture. There are over 10,000 statues and carvings of Indian musical instruments and dance forms at the temple.

Besides a main shrine, the temple has 12 sub-shrines, nine shikhars (spire-like structures), and nine pyramidal shikhars. It also has the largest elliptical dome of traditional stone architecture.

Nearly two million cubic feet of stone, including limestone, granite, pink sandstone and marble, was used for its construction. They were sourced from different parts of the world, including India, Turkey, Greece, Italy and China.

At the temple, a traditional Indian stepwell called the ‘Brahma Kund’ has the water from over 300 waters bodies across the world.

The temple will open for visitors from October 18.