An Emmy Award winning Jersey City music teacher is accused of sexually assaulting an autistic music student numerous times over four years, between 2018 and 2022, beginning when the student was 14 years old, the criminal complaint in the case says.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
David Musial, 62, of Jersey City, was charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, criminal sexual contact, and endangering the welfare of a child, earlier this month, as HCV first reported.
He made his first court appearance on Thursday and was released, despite the state filing a detention motion, officials said.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit (HCPO SVU) was contacted on May 28th of this year by the Jersey City Medical Center to report a sexual assault, when Musial was 61 and the victim was 18.
On August 11th, the victim, who his mother said was diagnosed as autistic when he was three years old, told authorities that he had music sessions with Musial on Fridays and sometimes Saturdays for seven to nine hours, the complaint states.
The mother also said her son was able to “join the music program on a scholarship for kids interested in music which would allow them to join with no tuition to be paid.”
He said the first incident occurred in 2018, when the alleged victim was 14, when Musial fondled him and kissed him on the mouth. The victim further stated that most of their music sessions involved sex and would often begin by Musial taking his clothes off.
Additionally, the complaint says the alleged victim did not tell his mom about any of these incidents until the day after prom, where he told her he did not want to go to music class.
“This man is a creep, he is touching me, he has done horrible things to me,” he allegedly said at the time.
A former professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, Musial’s career has spanned four decades and he won an Emmy Award in 1997 for composing and producing the song “Take a Stand.”
“The project was supervised by the National Center for Conflict Resolution Education, assisted by the United Sates Department of Education, manufactured by the RIAA, and promoted on MTV,” according to his website.
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez previously said that anyone wishing to report a sex crime should call the HCPO SVU at 201-915-1234.
