by Davy James, Staff Writer
A North Brunswick High School history teacher and girls soccer team coach, who admitted to fondling a 17-year-old student in South Brunswick in 2007, has been sentenced to three years in a New Jersey state prison.
Matthew Engelson, 32, a Cherry Hill resident who previously lived in Lawrenceville, was sentenced Jan. 30 by Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves at Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick, according to a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Mr. Engelson met with the 17-year-old North Brunswick High School student Dec. 8, 2007, at a location in South Brunswick where the two engaged in a sexual act, according to a press release. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office declined to divulge the location in South Brunswick where the incident occurred.
Mr. Engelson was charged Dec. 13, 2007, the same day North Brunswick High School officials notified the North Brunswick Township Police Department after learning the teacher was exchanging sexually explicit instant messages with the female student by way of computer, according to the press release.
The investigation revealed Mr. Engelson began sending the explicit instant messages to the student in October 2007. It also was determined Mr. Engelson began communicating with the student on a cell phone, the press release said.
Mr. Engelson began teaching at North Brunswick High School in September 2005. He began coaching the student’s high school soccer team in July 2007, according to the press release.
In addition to the prison term, Mr. Engelson is required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and has been ordered to undergo parole supervision for the rest of his life. Mr. Engelson also surrendered his teaching certificate and must avoid any contact with the victim and her family.
He was sentenced after he waived trial and pleaded guilty Sept. 26, 2008, to one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

