NJ trainer busted in alleged Atlantic Metropolis prostitution rip-off
A New Jersey center faculty trainer was arrested for being the alleged muscle in a wild hooker caper in an Atlantic Metropolis on line casino lodge — however the since-fired educator claims it was an epic misunderstanding and he or she was there “strictly to celebration.”
Amanda Crafts, 35, a pc trainer at Center Township Center College, and Veda Engel, 23, allegedly bamboozled an unsuspecting John on Oct. 9 — pinning down the nude man whereas transferring $1,250 out of his ApplePay account which they accessed utilizing his cellphone’s facial-recognition characteristic, the person instructed authorities
The alleged scheme unfolded on the lodge bar of Caesar’s Atlantic Metropolis, the place the unidentified sufferer met Engel and Crafts, each of Cape Could County, in accordance with a felony grievance obtained by The Submit.
There he exchanged cellphone numbers with Engel, who later known as the person and invited him to a lodge room at Harrah’s Resort, the doc mentioned.
The accuser instructed police that when he arrived on the room, the two sirens stripped him bare earlier than Crafts held him down and Engel carried out a intercourse act, in accordance with the grievance.
Engel then abruptly stopped and mentioned, “That’s what you get in your $1,250,” in accordance with Breaking AC.
Crafts, who weighs 180 kilos, continued to pin the person down as Engel held up his iPhone to his face to make use of facial recognition to open his cellphone, the person instructed police. Engel then opened Apple Pay and made 4 separate transfers to her account totaling $1,250, the alleged sufferer mentioned, in accordance with the grievance.
However legal professionals for Crafts, a single mom of 4, mentioned she had no half within the alleged theft and didn’t maintain the person down in any respect — and that she was utterly unaware that Engel was allegedly partaking in prostitution.
“I’ve by no means been to jail,” Crafts instructed Choose Timothy Maguire at a video listening to on Oct.10, Breaking AC reported.
“I’ve by no means been arrested earlier than. I used to be within the fallacious place on the fallacious time,” she contended.
Crafts’ legal professional claims she met Engel and the unidentified John at Caesar’s that very same evening, and thought they had been going to a lodge room at Harrah’s to maintain the celebration going — unaware that there could also be any plans to change money for intercourse.
“Amanda Crafts is extremely clever and wouldn’t take part in something like that. She was within the room and wished to depart and didn’t even notice it was a prostitution factor,” her legal professional Charles Peruto Jr. instructed The Submit, including, “She is mortified.”
at Caesars in Atlantic Metropolis. New Jersey Courts
The John known as cops to the room solely after he prematurely ejaculated and Engel ended the session — upset as a result of he paid for an hour of soiled deeds that ended effectively earlier than his time was up, the legal professional alleged.
Crafts was there “strictly to celebration” and to not take part in any prostitution or rip-off, he asserted.
“Possibly the prostitute took benefit of him however my shopper had nothing to do with it,” the lawyer mentioned.
Engel has a earlier cost for prostitution from December 2025 after she was accused of providing intercourse in change for $1,000 to an undercover New Jersey State Police detective on the Borgata Lodge On line casino and Spa, Breaking AC reported. She was ordered to pay a summons for that cost.
Crafts and Engel had been held on the Atlantic County Justice Facility for six days and had been launched on Oct. 15, in accordance with state information.
Crafts had served as a pc trainer at Center Township Center College in Cape Could since 2016, in accordance with LinkedIn.
The varsity introduced that Crafts was “now not employed by the district,” in a letter to households and employees on Oct. 19.
“The security and well-being of our college students stay our highest precedence,” Stephanie DeRose, Superintendent of Colleges in Center Township Public Colleges, wrote within the letter.
