Ten more people have come forward claiming a former teacher in the Cherry Hill school district sexually assaulted them while they were students at James F. Cooper Elementary School in the 1970s and 1980s.

In total, 17 people have filed legal claims that Otto Becken, a former sixth grade teacher at the school, sexually abused them as students at the elementary school between 1974 and 1984. Becken pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from some of the allegations more than 40 years ago. He died in 2011.

The first lawsuits were filed in 2023, when two former students sued, claiming the district was aware of the risk Becken posed to young students.

Four more former students filed suits against the district in April, claiming Becken sexually assaulted them inside and outside the scho

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