Amanda Crafts, a 35-year-old computer teacher from Wildwood Crest, was arrested in connection with an alleged prostitution scheme in Atlantic City where a man was restrained, forced to perform sexual acts, and robbed. The New Jersey Department of Corrections identified Crafts as the suspect in the October 9 incident. Her friend, Veda Engel, 23, of Cape May, was also charged in the case. Engle has a prior history of prostitution-related charges, including an incident dating back to December.
According to police reports cited by Breaking AC, the victim met the two women at a bar inside a hotel resort in Atlantic City. After exchanging contact information with Engel, the victim reportedly went to the women's room. Once inside, the victim stated that Crafts and Engel stripped him and physically restrained him to the bed. Engel then forced sexual acts on the victim before stopping and stating, "That's what you get for $1,250," according to the complaint.
While Crafts held the victim down, Engel used his facial recognition to unlock his phone. She made four separate Apple Pay transactions totaling $1,250 to her account. A detective noted in the affidavits that these transactions were made without the victim's consent in exchange for sexual acts.
Crafts told Judge Timothy Maguire during a video appearance from the Atlantic County Justice Facility that she is a teacher with no prior arrests. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said. Crafts, who stated she has four children, works in the special area department at Middle Township Middle School teaching computers, according to the school's website. The school district released a statement on October 19 confirming that the employee had been fired.
Superintendent Stephanie DeRose said in the statement that the district's responsibility is to protect students and ensure employees meet expected standards. "The safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority," DeRose said.
Engel's attorney stated that she works at SoFresh SoClean Commercial Cleaning in Ocean City. This was not Engel's first encounter with law enforcement regarding prostitution. Last year, she allegedly offered an undercover New Jersey State Police detective sex for $1,000 at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and was released on a summons at that time.
Crafts and Engel were both released on October 15 after being held for nearly a week. The state consented to their pretrial release, which requires them to check in with the court every other week.