The former Monmouth Regional High School teacher admitted to having a sexual relationships with two students.
FREEHOLD - A former Monmouth Regional High School teacher was sentenced to five years in a New Jersey correctional facility Friday after admitting to having a sexual relationships with two students.
Nicholas DePue, 30, of Whispering Oaks Way in Jackson, pleaded guilty in January to two second-degree counts of endangering the welfare of two girls, ages 16 and 17, both of whom were students at the Tinton Falls high school where he was a science teacher. DePue admitted in court to sending inappropriate text messages to students and/or having sexual physical contact with them.
Nicholas DePue, 29, of Whispering Oaks Way in Jackson, a former teacher at Monmouth Regional High School, was charged with having sexual relationships with two students. (Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office) After investigators discovered that he had carried on a lengthy relationship with one of the students, DePue was charged with second-degree counts of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child in June. The following month additional counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and fourth-degree criminal sexual contact were added after investigators identified a second victim, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said at the time.
As a result of those charges, DePue was fired from his job as a teacher at Monmouth Regional High School, authorities said.
DePue appeared in front of Superior Court Judge Joseph Oxley for sentencing on Friday morning, after already having voluntarily surrendering his teaching license earlier in the day.
Wearing in a suit and tie, DePue stood in the courtroom's jury box and apologized to the female students, their families, the school district and the community.
"My actions were foolish, shortsighted and self-centered," he told Oxley. "I realized far too late that I was doing far more harm than good."
Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Danielle Zanzuccki read a letter from the mother of one of the victim's, who asked the judge to give DePue the maximum allowable sentence because he "left a scar on (her) daughter that cannot ever be repaired or forgotten."
Zanzuccki went on to say that DePue took advantage of his powerful position and role as a teacher and "used it for his own sexual gratification."
She said it would be difficult to call DePue's offense an "aberration" because he was involved in a "continuous sexual relationship with not just one, but two students."
While announcing his sentence, Oxley said "these two young ladies were robbed of their innocence. ... I believe the conduct was reprehensible." Oxley then sentenced DePue to serve five-year sentences for each of the charges he pleaded guilty to, which will be served concurrently. He will also be subject to parole supervision for the rest of his life under Meghan's Law.
At the request of DePue's attorney, William Cunningham, Oxley said he would recommend that DePue serve his sentence in the state Department of Correction's Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center for male sexual offenders in the Avenel section of Woodbridge Township.
Cunningham said DePue's wife and family were standing behind him, but that DePue asked them not to attend the sentencing because he knew it was "all his fault."
DePue lost more than his freedom when he was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs on Friday, Cunningham said.
"He lost his job, his occupation and most importantly, he lost his reputation," he said.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.