OCEAN COUNTY – After a three week-long jury trial, a Vermont man who was once an art teacher in Toms River, was found guilty of sexually assaulting a minor on multiple occasions.
Raymond Waters, 71, of Pawlet, Vermont, was found guilty of five counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault and thirteen counts of Sexual Assault.
The jury concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that between September 2002 and September 2004, Waters sexually assaulted a minor in Toms River Township, Barnegat Township, and Hillsborough Township (Somerset County). Waters was remanded to the Ocean County Jail pending sentencing, the date of which has yet to be determined.
Back in January 2014, the victim responded to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office to report that he had been sexually assaulted by Waters and Waters’ husband, Allen Harbatuk, 76, of Hillsborough, between September 2002 and September 2004.
According to police, the victim met Waters in 2002 when he was 14 years-old while Waters was his art teacher at Toms River High School North.
Authorities said that Waters sexually assaulted the victim at Toms River High School North, the Joseph A. Citta Boy Scout Reservation in Barnegat Township, and Water’s then-home in Hillsborough.
In addition, Water’s husband, Harbatuk, sexually assaulted the victim at the Citta Boy Scout Reservation and the Hillsborough home.
On October 22, 2014, both Waters and Harbatuk were arrested at their residence in Hillsborough by Detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and Hillsborough Township Police Department. They were transferred to the Ocean County Jail, and subsequently released on bail.
On June 21, 2018, Harbatuk was found guilty of Sexual Assault after a jury trial. On November 2, 2018, the judge sentenced Harbatuk to seven years New Jersey State Prison.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer commends the diligence and dedication of Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Kristin Pressman and Assistant Prosecutor Kaitlyn Burke who ably and skillfully tried the case on behalf of the State. The Prosecutor likewise extends his gratitude to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, and Hillsborough Township Police Department, for their combined and collective efforts in connection with this matter, ultimately resulting in this guilty verdict
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