EHT High diving coach pleads not guilty in child pornography case
By Lynda Cohen
A suspended high school diving coach and teacher’s aide pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges Tuesday.
Mark Balesteri Jr., 29, is accused of having more than 1,000 images of child sexual abuse.
He allegedly described himself as a pedophile to investigators and said he is attracted to girls who are about 13 or 14 — about the age of the young girls he was around as a diving coach at Egg Harbor Township High School.
The state’s offer is currently a five-year sentence where Balesteri would have to serve the full five years, his attorney, Tina Islam, told the judge.
The case is Megan’s Law eligible, so the sentence would include registering as a sex offender and lifetime supervision.
Once the case gets to pretrial conference, the offer goes up significantly, Assistant Prosecutor Erika Halayko told Judge Benjamin Podolnick, as she handed him the offer sheet.
“Yes, it does,” he said looking at it, but giving no indication of the next step.
Islam declined comment after court, but the lead attorney in the case, Steven Scheffler, said that they are still receiving evidence in the case.
After they receive all the discovery, a decision will be made whether to resolve the case or move forward, he told BreakingAC.
Balesteri was released following a detention hearing before Superior Court Judge Patricia Wild, who denied the state’s motion to keep him jailed until trial.
The conditions of his release include that he have no access to social media and no contact with anyone younger than 18, unless it’s a relative.
Pleasantville High School Principal Edward Bonek was also scheduled to be before Podolnick on Tuesday, but that was postponed.
He faces similar charges, but was ordered detained at a hearing before Podolnick in August, calling him a “danger to the community,” and saying he was concerned that there was no way to make sure Bonek would not access illegal images again.
Attorneys John Zarych and Brenden Shur appealed Podolnick’s decision, but were denied.
He was moved out of the Atlantic County Justice Facility in August, and is currently housed in Cape May County.
