Entertainment
New Jersey computer teacher loses job after Atlantic City prostitution scam arrest
Amanda Crafts, a Middle Township computer teacher, is accused of pinning a naked man down while $1,250 left his phone. Her lawyer says she just wanted to party.
A middle school teacher from New Jersey stands accused of helping drain money from a naked man's phone in an Atlantic City hotel room.
Amanda Crafts is 35 and taught computer classes at Middle Township Middle School. Her side insists she was "strictly there to party."
The night at the casino
According to reports, an unnamed man says he ran into Crafts plus 23-year-old Veda Engel at Caesars in Atlantic City on October 9.
He says the group went back to the women's room at Harrah's. He says Engel had a sexual encounter with him there.
The man claims Crafts then pinned him down. He says his phone was unlocked with Face ID so Apple Pay could be used. Four payments went out for a total of $1,250.
Her lawyers push back
Crafts' attorneys deny she held the man down. They also say she had no idea Engel was selling sex.
"Amanda Crafts is highly intelligent and wouldn't participate in anything like that," her attorney said. The lawyer says Crafts wanted to get out of the room. She never understood that sex was being sold that night. She is now "mortified," the attorney added.
Out of the classroom
Crafts was taken into custody on October 9. She was freed on October 15.
The school sent a letter to families plus staff on October 19. It said she was "no longer employed by the district."
She is facing two charges tied to the alleged scheme.
