Former performing arts teacher faces allegations of sexual contact with student

TOMS RIVER — A Neptune City man and former performing arts teacher was arrested on multiple charges of endangering the welfare of a child and criminal sexual contact, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday.

Douglas Bollinger, 56, is charged for acts which took place in 2019 in his capacity as a teacher at the Ocean County Vocational Technical School – Performing Arts Academy, located in Toms River. The incidents allegedly occurred in Point Pleasant Beach and Asbury Park.

“…On Aug. 12, 2024, Douglas Bollinger, 56, of Neptune City, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of criminal sexual contact,” said Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer in a press release Thursday.

According to the prosecutor, in 2019, while Bollinger was employed as a teacher at Ocean County Performing Arts Academy, he “engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with a female student in both Point Pleasant Beach and Asbury Park.”

Bollinger was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and subsequently jailed on Thursday, Billhimer said, three days after the aforementioned charges.

“On Aug. 15, 2024, Bollinger was taken into custody at his residence by the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force,” said Billhimer. “He was transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he is presently lodged pending a detention hearing.”

No date has yet been set for Bollinger’s detention hearing. He is no longer employed at Performing Arts Academy, said Billhimer.

“It is my understanding that Mr. Bollinger is no longer employed as a teacher with the Performing Arts Academy,” said the prosecutor, “but I would encourage parents to have a conversation with their children if they had Mr. Bollinger as a teacher.”

The prosecutor urged anyone with information related to the investigation to contact Det. Nicole Testa of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-929-2027 , extension 3489.

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