A married former New Jersey middle school teacher had sex with her student six times and then continued to carry out six years of “grooming, manipulation and abuse” starting when the boy was just 12, a prosecutor argued during a bail hearing Wednesday.

Ashley Fisler, 36, had sex with her student and then continued sexting with him for years – as recently as January 2026 – even after the teen told her he wanted her out of his life, Gloucester county prosecutor Kylie Finley alleged.

“This was more than just six isolated acts of sex abuse against a minor,” Finley said. “This was a pattern of six years of grooming, manipulation and abuse by this defendant as a middle school teacher against one of her active and former students.”

Fisler – who appeared from Salem County Jail by video – looked on during the nearly hour-long hearing, wearing dark green jail scrubs and only speaking to confirm her name, saying: “Ashley Fisler.”

Through the years Fisler — a social studies teacher at Orchard Valley Middle School in Washington Township — exchanged disturbing messages with the teen including, offering to buy him a sex toy, shave his pubic hair, asking him to describe the sex he had with girls his age, recommending steamy movies to him and requesting he send her photos of himself, Finley claimed.

Finley said her office had 7,500 pages of text messages between the educator and the boy as she argued for Fisler to be held without bail while her case plays out. Finley explained the pair sent explicit photos of themselves to each other but her office was unable to recover them.

Finley said that the victim’s statements to the police were corroborated by the texts her office has between the pair from 2023 through 2026. 

In an Aug. 9, 2023 text, Fisler “is reminiscing with the victim about when the victim was in middle school, specifically a time that the victim came to her classroom on her prep period and the defendant made out with the victim and they were grinding,” Finley said, adding this matched specific details he gave to investigators.

The prosecutor also said the victim told Fisler he was “struggling” mentally and physically in school because of his relationship with his teacher.

In December 2023 he “confides” to Fisler he was getting erections while in school,” Finley said.

Fisler creepily responded, “Oh my God, that’s fantastic,” Finley alleged, citing the texts.

The teen also began telling Fisler about his mental health struggles in 2023 and she responded, “I feel like I forced you to grow up abnormally quick,”  and another time told him “I take the blame for all of this,” Finley claimed.

When he said he didn’t want to sleep with girls his own age because he worried he’d think of Fisler, she responded by telling him “not to call her Ashley in bed.”

He eventually told Fisler about an sexual encounter with another teen girl and she told him, “I wish it was me” and then went on to ask him graphic questions. 

“The victim can’t even have a normal sexual encounter with an age-appropriate person without her making it about her,” Finley alleged.

The teenager “tried multiple times to break off the relationship” but Fisler continued trying to control him, asking him to check in with her at least weekly and ideally daily, Finley claimed.

The teen wrote in a Jan. 2, 2025 message to Fisler, “I have to try really hard to rebuild the things you broke inside of me. You destroyed things inside of me. You stripped me of my innocence.”

By Jan. 20, 2026 he told Fisler, “I don’t want you in my life anymore. As I’m getting older and I look back on the situation, I can’t help but see you as manipulative and selfish,” Finely said, adding that Fisler kept texting him for days after

“There is no remorse here,” Finely alleged.

When Fisler eventually quit teaching she said the reason was because “she blurred the lines with another student,” Finley said.

The teen reported the abuse to the police in January.

Fisler also allegedly exchanged inappropriate messages with two other students, including sending one photos of herself in a bikini.

“There are no conditions to ensure she does not strip another child of their innocence or continue to manipulate the vicitm,” Finley argued.

Meanwhile, Fisler’s defense attorney, Rocco Cipparone, said his client isn’t a flight risk, as she is married, owns a house and lives near all of her family in the Garden State.

He also claimed since she quit teaching in 2023, she is not a risk to other students. 

And he claimed that the reason she quit was because she helped a student cover up a hickey on their neck to hide it from her parents — which was what she meant when she stated she “blurred the lines.”

Cipparone accused Finley of cherry-picking messages and taking them out of context to make them look worse than they really were. And he claimed there was zero evidence that his client ever sexually assaulted the preteen.

As for the messages she exchanged with the victim starting when he was 16, the defense lawyer said the teenager’s messages were graphic and mature, adding: “This is not a babe in the woods scenario.”

Judge William Ziegler said he would issue a ruling Thursday morning during another video hearing for Fisler. He said the fact that she had no criminal history and other mitigating factor comes with a recommendation to release her but he wanted to review the law.

“I want to give this careful consideration because a decision one way or the other sets the tone for the entire case,” Ziegler said, noting he will put his decision in writing too.

The judge signed a restraining order barring Fisler from having any contact with the victim.