N.J. teacher bursts into tears as judge orders her jailed in shocking sexual assault case

A former Gloucester County middle school teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student multiple times cried Thursday after a judge ordered him to remain in jail awaiting trial.

Ashley A. Fisler, 36, of Washington Township, was arrested last week after her former student told investigators that her teacher sexually assaulted her in his classroom and in his vehicle on four separate occasions between 2021 and 2022.

Prosecutors allege Fisler, who is married, began grooming the victim in 2020 when she was 12 years old. They also say he continued to exchange at least 7,500 pages of sometimes sexually explicit text messages with her after she moved into high school.

Fisler denied sexually assaulting the teenager, and his lawyer questioned in court whether the prosecution had enough evidence to file a lawsuit.

The defendant was employed as a teacher at Orchard Valley Middle School in Washington Township at the time of the alleged crimes. He no longer works as an educator.

He appeared via video from jail Thursday morning for the continuation of a detention hearing that began Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge William Ziegler concluded that Fisler could not be safely released, given the nature of the allegations, the weight of the evidence, and the potential for witness intimidation.

“A person who has taken care of and allegedly groomed a boy for at least five years could have significant influence over him if he had contact with him,” the judge said.

Ziegler said the defendant was able to keep his alleged actions with the victim secret.

“In reaching this decision, the court is aware that the defendant was able to secretly keep this relationship between himself and the victim secret,” he said. “That is, he hid his relationship from his wife, other people and everyone else, and continued this relationship knowing exactly her age.”

The court’s public safety assessment also concluded he should remain in prison.

When the judge announced his decision, Fisler became emotional and covered his face with his hands when he learned he would remain behind bars.

He is charged with six counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor, one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and one count of second-degree official misconduct.

According to the judge, who said the prosecution had a strong case against Fisler, “The defendant allegedly confessed in writing to sexual intercourse with the victim, and that various acts between them were confirmed by his own written confessions.”

Prosecutors cited thousands of text messages between Fisler and the victim as they presented their case.

For what the prosecution described as technical limitations, investigators were only able to recover text messages from May 2023 through this year. There are no messages from the years in which the alleged attacks took place.

Gloucester County Assistant Prosecutor Kylie Finley said Wednesday that in the texts they had, Fisler reminded the victim of the sexual assault, searched for explicit photos of the teen and exchanged sexually explicit messages.

The alleged victim also had nude photos of Fisler, the judge said Thursday.

During the text message, the teenager told Fisler about the damage he had caused.

“On January 20, 2025, the victim told the defendant: ‘I had to work really hard to rebuild the things inside me that you broke. You destroyed the things inside me. You robbed me of my innocence,'” Finley said Wednesday.

The teacher responded by admitting that he was responsible for the student’s problems, the prosecutor said.

“The defendant admits to hurting himself countless times and says, quote, ‘I take the blame for all of this,'” Finley said. “He even admits to putting her in positions he shouldn’t have, saying: ‘I feel like I’m forcing you to grow up abnormally fast.’”

Finley said Fisler continued to text the victim in January of this year despite her trying to stop contact. He contacted the police later that month.

Defense attorney Rocco Cipparone said the prosecution chose from a selection of suggestive, out-of-context text messages and that there was no real evidence of the crimes they claimed Fisler committed.

Arguing that he should remain in jail until trial, the prosecutor said Fisler posed a danger to others and a flight risk as he faced a potentially long prison sentence.

Fisler joined the school district in 2015 and left in April 2023.

According to his resume, he founded a business that designs and manufactures custom clothing in June 2023.

As of 2024, he was working part-time for his family’s tree care business.

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