UPDATE: Wall, Lacey Mayors Stunned by Brower News

Wall Mayor Todd W. Luttman said he is "shocked" by news that a former Wall schools assistant superintendent is accused of not reporting to police that a Wall teacher may have sexually assaulted a child.

"I was speechless when this information was brought to me today," Luttman said. "My interaction with Mrs. Brower was primarily on the school budget in 2010."

At the time, Sandra Brower was an assistant superintendent in Wall and Luttman was a member of the township committee. This is his first year as mayor.

The school district's tax levy failed in a public vote in 2010, so the matter was sent to the Wall Township Committee, as per standard procedure according to the former state guidelines. The committee made some cuts at the time, he said.

"She seemed knowledgeable on the budget, she worked with the committee," Luttman said. "I had no other interaction with her."

Luttman, who has a daughter graduating from high school in June, said he had no phone calls from concerned residents by midday.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor's office has said that the original report of possible sexual abuse was later determined to be unfounded.

Brower pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday afternoon in court and will appear in court again in June.

Lacey Mayor David Most said he respects Brower and the work she has done for the community.

"I think Dr. Brower has brought positive change to Lacey Township and I enjoyed working with her," Most said, adding that Brower was involved in the municipality's task force and proactively confronted Lacey's drug problem.

"She was trying to make positive change and that’s the kind of superintendent we need - someone who’s going to make positive change. She was all in as far as our task force was concerned and she was really involved in the community and I respected her for that.

"It’s under litigation," he added. "The woman is innocent until proven guilty. Let the process happen. I’ll let the courts handle it."