New Jersey Teacher Amanda Crafts Arrested and Fired Over Alleged Prostitution Robbery at Atlantic City Casino Hotel

A schoolteacher in New Jersey has been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme in which a man was restrained, forced to endure sexual acts and robbed in a casino hotel room in Atlantic City. The teacher was identified as Amanda Crafts, 35, of Wildwood Crest.

Crafts was a computer teacher at Middle Township Middle School. Her friend Veda Engel, 23, of Cape May, was also charged in the October 9 incident.

According to police, the victim met the women at a bar at a hotel resort in Atlantic City. After exchanging numbers with Engel, he met the two women in their room.

The victim said that once inside, the two women stripped him down and physically restrained him to the bed. Engel then forced sexual acts on him before stopping and saying, "That's what you get for $1,250."

As Crafts held the victim down, Engel reportedly used his facial recognition to unlock his phone and made four separate Apple Pay transactions totalling $1,250 to her account, according to the complaint. A detective wrote in the affidavits that the victim said the transactions were made without his consent.

During her first court appearance, Crafts told Judge Timothy Maguire that she was a teacher and had never been arrested before. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said. According to reports, Crafts has four children and taught computers in the school's special area department.

The Middle Township school district released a statement on October 19 acknowledging the arrest of a teacher and confirming that the employee had been fired. Superintendent Stephanie DeRose said: "Our responsibility is to protect our students, follow appropriate procedures, and ensure that those entrusted with caring for and educating our children meet the standards expected of them. The safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority."

Engel's attorney said she works at SoFresh SoClean Commercial Cleaning in Ocean City. The incident was not Engel's first prostitution-related encounter with law enforcement: last year, she allegedly offered an undercover New Jersey State Police detective sex in exchange for $1,000 at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, and was reportedly released on a summons at the time.

Engel and Crafts were both released on October 15 after being held for nearly a week, according to reports. The state consented to their pretrial release, which requires them to check in with the court every other week.