Ex-substitute teacher pleads guilty to sexual assault of student

A former substitute teacher in Burlington County faces up to 10 years in prison after she admitted sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student.

Angela Stellwag, 29, appeared in court Monday and pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault under an agreement with prosecutors.

In exchange, officials dropped three charges, including endangering the welfare of a child, filed in 2005 when Stellwag worked as a substitute in the Riverside and Beverly City School Districts.

Stellwag, then 23, met the student in 2003 when he was 13 and attended Beverly City School, where she taught, authorities said. The relationship became sexual in August 2004.

The former teacher, who in October 2004 was hired at Riverside High School, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21. It is up to the judge to decide if she will go to jail and for how long. Under sentencing guidelines, she faces up to 10 years.

Had she been convicted of all charges, Stellwag - daughter of former Delran Mayor Joseph Stellwag - could have received up to 45 years in jail. The state revoked her teaching certification in 2005 as a result of the criminal charges.