$ 2 / FINAL EDITION S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 9 , 2 0 1 4 A F F I L I AT E D W I T H Will Rutgers and Princeton resume historic rivalry? Once jailed for molesting a student, Jim Cunneely says his crime is part of a cycle of abuse that began when he was a student. POLITICS Christie’s friends got GOP group contracts At least two people close to New Jersey’s governor benefited financially from Chris Christie’s chairmanship of the Republican Governor’s Association, records show. Longtime political strategist Mike DuHaime, a partner at the public strategy firm Mercury Public Affairs, and Cam Henderson, a former chief of staff to First Lady Mary Pat Christie, received consulting contracts from the RGA. / Page 3 BUSINESS A hairy situation for razor industry With “No Shave November” and its mustachioed counterpart, “Movember,” many men across America are keeping sharp objects away from their faces. But for a growing number, the month is no different and it’s cutting into some companies’ profits. Spending on razors and blades fell last year, to $2.3 billion, for the first time since the recession. / Page A15 TV Back to the bat cave for ‘60s series’ fans In anticipation of the release this week of the complete DVD set of the action series, we recall our many conversations with the stars of the show, from Yvonne Craig who played Batgirl to Cesar Romero, aka the Joker. “I always thought as a cat, I could toy with any male star,” said Julie Newmar, who was purr-fectly cast as the Catwoman. / A&E Today’s Weather IN SPORTS How a teacher became a SEX OFFENDER (ARISTIDE ECONOMOPOULOS/NJ ADVANCE MEDIA FOR THE STAR-LEDGER) PART ONE OF TWO P By Mark Mueller / NJ Advance Media for The Star-Ledger ale and shaking, Jim Cunneely lay in bed, barely finding the breath to speak. He clung to his wife like a child, his head on her chest. “I’m going to have to go,” he whispered. “They’re coming. I’m going to have to go.” Dawn Cunneely didn’t understand. Go where? Her husband wasn’t making sense. “Who’s coming for you?” “I’m going to have to go,” he repeated faintly. “They’re coming.” On the night of Feb. 5, 2007, they came for Jim Cunneely, a popular French teacher — a teacher of the year — at Kittatinny Regional High School in Sussex County. Two police officers escorted him to a van and drove him to the Hardyston station, where they sat him at a spare steel table. “How are you, Jim?” a State Police detective asked, according to a transcript of the conversation. Cunneely was tired. Tired of the worry. Tired of the secrets. In that moment of guilt and shame and catharsis, Cunneely, then 30, admitted to a sevenmonth sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl, a student in his class. He described trysts in motels, in her bedroom, in his car. He told her he loved her, the confession shows. His acts would lead to the destruction of his marriage, the end of his career, a year in prison and a lifetime of parole Mostly sunny with a light northwest wind. Tonight will be clear with calm conditions. High: 57° Low: 36° / Forecast, Page 2 Index supervision under Megan’s Law. He had become among the most reviled of criminals: the sex offender. But his arrest, Cunneely said, also forced him to face a past he had all but ignored, even as it dictated the patterns and behaviors of his life, fueling impulses and muting every internal alarm. The teacher of the year says that, at 15, he, too, was sexually abused by his French teacher, also a teacher of the year. In court documents, in a self-published memoir and in interviews with NJ Advance Media, Cunneely alleges the A&E / E1 Books / D11 Business / A15 Classified / H1 County / B1 Jersey / A19 Jim Cunneely and teacher Carol D’Annunzio in photos from a 1994 Lenape Valley Regional High School yearbook. Investigation opened Jim Cunneely alleges his female French teacher sexually abused him when he was a 15-year-old high school student. After inquiries by NJ Advance Media, the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office — the same agency that sent Cunneely to prison for sexually abusing a female student when he was a French teacher himself — opened a criminal investigation into Carol D’Annunzio. To see his interview, visit NJ.com. relationship with the teacher, Carol D’Annunzio, then 42, lasted more than two years and dominated every aspect of his time at Lenape Valley Regional High School in Stanhope during the early 1990s. He described trysts in her classroom, in the auditorium, in her home and car. She told him she loved him, he said. On a Obituaries / A21 Perspective / D1 Puzzles / E5 Sports / C1 Travel / E8 TV Grid / E6 school trip to Paris, they exchanged symbolic wedding vows beside the Seine, Cunneely said. He says he still has the crucifix ring she placed on his finger that day. To those who study sexual abuse, Cunneely’s account of his life, from alleged victim to abuser, is not unusual. SEE CUNNEELY, PAGE 12 =4+5+h+1+e