Cedar Lake in Monroe Township, Gloucester County is among four parks in South Jersey closed due to what New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife labeled unprecedented unauthorized use.
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has closed six areas in its Wildlife Management Area System, including five in South Jersey, for the summer due to unprecedented unauthorized use.
The emergency closures include targeted areas located within Cedar Lake in Monroe Township (Gloucester County); two separate areas in Greenwood Forest in Lacey Township, Menantico Ponds in Millville, Wildcat Ridge in Rockaway Township, and the Winslow Wildlife Management Area.
Officials said the areas have drawn large crowds, and include former quarry pits where illegal swimming takes place. Swimming is prohibited and extremely dangerous due to the depth and low temperature of the water which can threaten life and safety, the Division of Fish and Wildlife in a statement.
A grand jury indicted Franco-Leon in November on 28 counts, accusing him of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault against both girls.
Franco-Leon groomed and preyed upon his victims for years, stalking them online and engaging in sexual activity beginning in 2015, prosecutors said. He allegedly admitted to one of the relationships when he was arrested in March 2018.
Prosecutors say the acts occurred on various occasions between 2015 and 2019. Franco-Leon allegedly told police he resigned from Morris Catholic in 2018 after he developed an emotional connection with one of the girls.
One of the victims told police the former teacher sent her sexually explicit messages and a nude photo of himself on Snapchat, bought her a vibrator and took her to a Rockaway hotel for sex, according to police. The other victim alleges Franco-Leon performed oral sex and other sex acts on her in a classroom.