Ex-teacher gets 6 years for sex abuse of student in Parsippany

A former drama and music instructor for a high school in Paterson was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for official misconduct and sexually touching a 16-year-old student at his Parsippany apartment and on school grounds.

Scott Van Hoven, now 48 and living in Hudson, New York, pleaded guilty in April in state Superior Court, Morristown, to official misconduct and two counts of criminal sexual contact with a female student he met while producing “Little Shop of Horrors” at John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson in 2010.

Under the sentence imposed by Judge Salem Vincent Ahto, Van Hoven must serve a minimum of five years before parole consideration. He must register with police as a convicted sex offender under Megan’s Law requirements and must pay about $3,000 in fines and penalties.

“I don’t know how you got to this point,” Ahto told Van Hoven. “With your intelligence, how you could use the school as a setting for your tryst.”

With his fiancee and 2-year-old son seated in the courtroom, Van Hoven, who also has two teenage children from a previous marriage, blamed his conduct, in part, on bipolar disorder, which he learned he had after his arrest.

“I’m deeply sorry for the choices I made,” he said. “There are more people than just me that will be impacted by my incarceration.”

Defense lawyer Ronald Ricci said that when Van Hoven got involved with the teenage student in 2010, he also was going through a divorce and made a “very poor judgment.”

“It’s a big penalty for a poor choice,” Ricci said, adding that Van Hoven has been involved in counseling and psychiatric care since his arrest. As part of his plea agreement, he forfeited his teaching licenses and can never hold public office in New Jersey. He now runs a piano tuning and technician company in New York.

The victim was not present for the sentencing, but Assistant Morris County Prosecutor LaJuan Tucker said she was ostracized by students and even questioned by her own family when her relationship with the teacher was discovered. Tucker stressed that the fault lies with Van Hoven, not the student he had a duty to protect and supervise.

Tucker asked for a penalty of seven years in prison, with five years of parole ineligibility, and Ricci asked for a five-year term, with five years before parole consideration. In New Jersey, a conviction for official misconduct carries a mandatory minimum punishment of five years behind bars. The judge imposed six years.

Ahto found that Van Hoven took advantage of the girl’s vulnerability because she looked up to him for affirmation.

“This young victim had aspirations to be part of the arts,” Ahto said. “Mr. Van Hoven’s endeavors related to the arts, so she was vulnerable in that sense.”

Van Hoven pleaded guilty in April just as jury selection for his trial was underway.

When first charged in July 2010, Van Hoven was accused of having two sexual encounters with the girl at his Vail Road apartment in Parsippany in April 2010. At the time he had been an educator for 14 years, and between 2004 and 2008 he was choral director for the Pequannock school district.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettDR.com.