Daniel Torsiello alleges in a lawsuit that he was placed on leave by the district and later falsely accused of sexual misconduct with a student

NEED TO KNOW

• Daniel Torsiello, a history teacher at Central Regional High School in New Jersey, has been on administrative leave since February after explicit photos of himself were circulated by students at the school
• Those photos were sent around by a student after they gained access to his private Instagram account, Torsiello alleges in a lawsuit filed against the minor and her family
• He is now seeking $1 million for loss of income and reputational harm in the suit accusing the student of libel and invasion of privacy

A New Jersey school teacher has filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit against a student and her family.

In the lawsuit, a copy of which PEOPLE obtained, Daniel Torsiello, a history teacher at Central Regional High School, accuses the student of sharing explicit photos found on his private Instagram account.

The defendant allegedly sent screenshots of the images to other students, which resulted in Torsiello being placed on administrative leave by officials at the school, where he also coaches the girls' basketball and boys' volleyball teams.

Two weeks after being placed on leave, the lawsuit claims, "additional developments across social media revealed posts, comments, photographs, videos, screenshots, shares and related content that falsely and maliciously alleged Torsiello was in an inappropriate relationship with a student at Central."

According to the lawsuit, Torsiello is now in jeopardy of losing his job as the women's volleyball coach at a local community college near his home in Toms River.

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The student defendant is accused in the lawsuit of circulating explicit photos of Torsiello to other students after the teacher provided her with access to an Instagram account for the girls' basketball team so that they could post updates.

Torsiello alleges the student used the access he provided to that account to gain entry into his personal and private Instagram account, which he admits contained explicit photos of himself and other consenting adults.

The student allegedly took screenshots of these images as well as conversations Torsiello had with other adults and began sharing them with students, the lawsuit claims.

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On March 9, counsel for Torsiello sent a notice letter to the defendant and her family, a copy of which was obtained by PEOPLE.

That letter requested: an "immediate written retraction and public correction" from the student to clarify that she has no evidence of any sexual misconduct between the teacher and a student; "identification of all individuals to whom the screenshots were distributed"; the "immediate removal" of any screenshots or reposts within the student's control; "written confirmation that no further dissemination will occur"; and monetary compensation for Torsiello's "lost income and reputational harm."

Joshua P. Cittadino, Torsiello's attorney, wrote in the letter: "These private communications, which were unrelated to school activities and did not involve any students whatsoever, were deliberately and maliciously screenshot[ted], disseminated among students with the intent of harming Mr. Torsiello's reputation, and ultimately circulated publicly."

There has been no response or acknowledgement of that notice letter from the defendants as of May 2, according to the lawsuit.

A letter was also sent to the Facebook page which disseminated much of the information about Torsiello, but there was no response, Cittadino said.

The administrator for that page shared a post on Feb. 19 claiming a student had come forward and alleged that she was a victim of sexual misconduct by Torsiello when she was a student at the school, but provided no further details.

Local prosecutors would not comment on whether an investigation was ever launched into the matter, and Torsiello has not been charged with any crime.

Superintendent Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder also did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment, but in a statement released back in February noted that "there had been no reports or information in the district's possession regarding alleged sexual misconduct by district staff with students."

That statement also said that the "district was aware that messages between two adult staff members had been inadvertently accessed by students."

The defendants have not yet responded to the lawsuit and the court docket lists no legal counsel for the family at this time. 

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