Substitute Teacher Busted by Her Own Children, Same Age as Victim

“I think it’s reasonable under the circumstances to bar her from having any contact with children under the age of 18,” Hudson County Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale said at the detainment hearing on September 11th.

Prosecutors argued that Elyse Castilo, 45, should be held for trial, but the Judge sided with defense noting that she had no criminal record and scored as low as possible on Public Safety Assessment.

She is, of course, still allowed to have contact with her own two children, ages 13 and 14, who are the whole reason this case has been exposed.

According to court documents, Castillo's two children confronted her last month and expressed their disgust about "her relationship with a minor."  After that confrontation, the children's father placed a call to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency on August 19th, alleging that during that confrontation, Castillo had abused the children.

The alleged victim, age 14, was then interviewed and he confirmed that he had met Castillo when she was a substitute teacher for his sixth grade class in 2018.  He stated that they began a relationship and stated "we would make love,” according to the criminal complaint.  He also stated that the last time he had been at her house was August 2nd when they performed multiple sex acts.  The abuse is said to have occurred between June 2018 and August 2019.

An arrest warrant was signed on August 29th and she was taken into custody without incident.

Castillo is charged with aggravated sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, witness tampering and having sex while she had a venereal disease (herpes) without the informed consent of the alleged victim, the criminal complaint says.  If she is convicted, she faces between 10 and 20 years in prison.