Ex-Cumberland County high school teacher sentenced in student sex assault case
Isaias Garza was sentenced Friday to seven years in New Jersey State Prison for sexual assault and seven years for witness tampering and bribery, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office.
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A former Cumberland County teacher was sentenced to 14 years in state prison for sexually assaulting a student and later attempting to bribe the victim to lie about the abuse, authorities said.
Isaias Garza was sentenced Friday to seven years in New Jersey State Prison for sexual assault and seven years for witness tampering and bribery, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office. The sentences will run consecutively, resulting in a total term of 14 years.
Under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, Garza must serve 85% of the sexual assault sentence before becoming eligible for parole. The witness tampering conviction carries a 3½-year period of parole ineligibility. Overall, Garza must serve about 9½ years before he is eligible for parole.
The judge also imposed the requirements of Megan’s Law and parole supervision for life.
A Cumberland County jury found Garza guilty on Oct. 3, 2025. Prosecutors said the evidence showed Garza sexually assaulted the victim, identified as R.H., multiple times between 2004 and 2005 while the victim was a sixth-grade student at the ExCEL school in Bridgeton. Garza was a teacher at the school at the time.
Authorities said Garza later attempted to tamper with the victim by offering money and other benefits in exchange for lying to investigators after an investigation into the allegations began in 2018.
