Teacher fired after friend forced victim to pay $1,250 for sex at casino

The Middle Township School District fired computer teacher Amanda Crafts on Oct. 19. The dismissal followed her arrest in a scheme where a man was held in an Atlantic City hotel room, subjected to sexual acts, and charged $1,250 via his phone.

Crafts, 35, of Wildwood Crest, was arrested on Oct. 9. She worked in the special area department at Middle Township Middle School. Her friend, Veda Engel, 23, of Cape May, was charged in the same incident. Engel works for a cleaning company in Ocean City.

Police said the victim met the two women at a bar at a hotel resort. He exchanged numbers with Engel and later met them in their room. The victim reported that the women stripped him and restrained him to the bed. Engel forced sexual acts on him before stopping and stating, "That’s what you get for $1,250."

While Crafts held the victim down, Engel used his facial recognition to unlock his phone. She made four Apple Pay transactions totaling $1,250 to her account. A detective noted in the affidavit that the transactions were made without the victim's consent in exchange for sexual acts.

During a video appearance at the Atlantic County Justice Facility, Crafts told Judge Timothy Maguire she was a teacher with no prior arrests. She said, "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Crafts stated she has four children.

This was not Engel's first encounter with law enforcement regarding prostitution. Last year, she allegedly offered an undercover state trooper sex for $1,000 at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. She was released on a summons at that time. Breaking AC reported that Engel has other prostitution-related charges dating back to December.

Both women were released on Oct. 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.