Jury awards plaintiff $1.6 million in sex abuse trial against Wasim Muhammad

A jury in the civil sex abuse trial against Wasim Muhammad on Tuesday rejected the claim that the former middle school teacher sexually abused his student three decades ago, but did find that both he and the Camden City School District were negligent, awarding the woman $1.6 million.

The plaintiff, known in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, said she was “relieved” by the verdict, which was decided in 18 parts. The jury of four men and two women deliberated for about 5½ hours over two days.

“I’m gratified that I stood up for myself, finally,” she said after the trial concluded before New Jersey Superior Court Judge John Kennedy. “It is my hope that the jury’s decision will make schools safer for children against sexual abuse, both in Camden and throughout New Jersey.”

The crowded courtroom was tense as the lawyers and others rushed inside to await the verdict. About five sheriff’s officers were standing by. Muhammad and the plaintiff sat quietly next to their lawyers. Later, Muhammad and his entourage clashed with a group of community activists as they left the courtroom.

“Allah is the greatest,” Muhammad said.

“The truth will set you free,” one of the activists responded.

Although the jury found that Muhammad, 56, the Camden School Board Advisory president and a Muslim minister in Camden, had not assaulted his former student nor engaged in nonconsensual sexual contact when the plaintiff was younger than 18, it did decide that he “recklessly or intentionally committed extreme and outrageous conduct” upon her.

It also found that the district was negligent in supervising Muhammad, then known as Donnie Walker, and “created or permitted a sexually hostile educational environment,” which caused the plaintiff harm.

Brian Budic, solicitor for the school district, was surprised by the outcome, given that the jury did not find that Muhammad sexually assaulted the plaintiff when she was his student.

“The jury verdict, frankly, makes no sense,” Budic said. “How can Camden City School District be held liable?”

Budic and Muhammad’s lawyer, Troy Archie, both called the verdict “inconsistent” and said their clients would likely appeal or seek a new trial. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon at Muhammad’s Temple No. 20, Archie said jury deliberations should have ended after the jury found no liability on the sexual assault allegations.

“The whole case is based on her being underage and being assaulted by Don Walker,” Archie said. “If it’s a no on that, it should be no across the board.”

The school district will be liable for 60% of the $1.6 million; Muhammad will be liable for 40%. Before the trial, an arbitrator recommended a $1 million settlement, but that was rejected by all parties.

Calling the verdict “a powerful statement,” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Jeffrey Fritz, called on the nine-member school board to oust Muhammad as president. Muhammad took a leave of absence after Gov. Phil Murphy called for his resignation. The district has been under a state takeover since 2013.

In a statement Tuesday night, a Murphy spokesman said: “While we understand litigation is ongoing, the appalling and heinous nature of these allegations casts doubt on Mr. Muhammad’s ability to effectively serve the Camden City School District. The Governor believes he should immediately resign.”

» READ MORE: Who is Wasim Muhammad, Camden’s school board president accused of sexually abusing a student?

The jury will return June 17 to decide whether punitive damages should also be awarded. Muhammad said he will remain on leave from the Camden school board pending the final outcome of the case.

In the lawsuit, Muhammad was accused of sexually abusing Doe when she was a student at Cooper B. Hatch Middle School and he was her seventh-grade social studies teacher. She alleged that they started having sex in 1994, and that he abused her for years, even after she moved with her family to the South.

The lawsuit also alleged that school district employees who knew about the relationship failed to stop it.

During the trial, the jury heard emotional and graphic testimony from the plaintiff. The Inquirer is not identifying her because it does not identify victims in sexual assault cases without their consent.

Among her allegations, she said the two engaged in a threesome with one of his many wives, and that he took the plaintiff to a porn theater and forced her to have sex with a stranger while he watched and masturbated.

“He sexually assaulted her every way imaginable,” said Fritz.

During Muhammad’s testimony, he told the jury that he began a relationship with his former student when she was 18, when they married under his Islamic faith. (She denies that the two were ever married.) Muhammad said he is legally married to his childhood sweetheart, Stephanie, and currently has four spiritual wives. Besides the plaintiff, he was married to another woman, but that relationship ended previously, he said.

Muhammad had denied he had a sexual relationship with the plaintiff before she was 18. Muhammad testified that he started relationships with four of his six wives when they were 18.

The plaintiff waited until 2020 to come forward with her allegations because, she said, “I felt very shamed. I felt stupid. I felt like nobody would believe me.”

She tried to file a complaint with Cherry Hill police — because some of the alleged sexual assaults occurred at the Feathernest Inn in Cherry Hill — but was told that it was too late to pursue criminal charges.

Now 45, the plaintiff filed the lawsuit under the New Jersey Child Victims Act, a state law passed in 2019 that allows victims of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers up until they turn 55. The jury rejected that claim.

Married and the mother of three children, she said she was looking forward to returning home to finish the school year as a first-grade teacher. She said the verdict brought “a modicum of closure.”

“I’m happy that the truth came out,” she said. “I’ll never be the same.”

When asked whether her “13-year-old self” would be proud of her, she wept softly.

“I know that she is.”