A high school girls' basketball coach is suing his former student-athlete and her family after she allegedly snooped through his personal Instagram account and started spreading rumors he was sexually involved with a student.

Daniel Torsiello, a longtime history teacher at Central Regional High School in New Jersey who has coached the girls' varsity basketball team for the past five seasons, filed the suit on May 1 in Ocean County Superior Court, NJ.com reports.

He claims he provided the student with access to the girls' basketball Instagram account so she could post about Senior Night activities.

But, Torsiello alleges, the student then invaded his privacy by accessing his personal Instagram account and searching through his personal and private messages that revealed explicit photos he said he sent to another adult.

The teacher told NJ.com the messages were between him and 'another teacher in her 30s' and were never meant to be accessed by the student.

'Those messages are from a year ago,' he said. 'It's frustrating when you haven't done anything wrong. You might have been embarrassed, but who wouldn't be embarrassed by something on their phone if someone was allowed to rifle through their phone?'

Torsiello went on to call any allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a student 'absurd,' insisting: 'There's no merit for this.'

But after the student started sending the messages to her friends, and they later spread on social media, Torsiello was placed on administrative leave from his teaching position on February 2, with authorities saying his earliest possible return would be the start of the 2026 - 27 school year.

He was also removed from his position as the girls' basketball coach before the end of the season.

Just about two weeks after being placed on leave, Torsiello's suit states that 'defamatory and false statements' were published in a Facebook group known as Jersey Coast Emergency News, including comments, photographs, videos and screenshots that alleged Torsiello engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student.

As those allegations began to spread, students at the school led a walkout of class on February 17 to protest what they viewed as a lack of communication from administrators at the school.

At the time, Central Regional Superintendent Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder said in a statement that district officials were aware of social media posts about alleged sexual misconduct.

'At the time those messages were first posted, the district was aware that messages between two adult staff members had been inadvertently accessed by students,' she said. 

'Although there had been no reports or information in the district's possession regarding alleged sexual misconduct by district staff with students, that incident was reported to the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit and the Berkeley Township Police Department.'

Without naming Torsiello, CarneyRay-Yoder said the speculation circulating on social media about sexual misconduct 'was not based on any information known to the district' at the time.

She added that the district later received additional information about the alleged misconduct on February 13, which district officials also turned over to the authorities. 

Meanwhile, by March, Torsiello started to take matters into his own hands when his attorney, Joshua Cittadino, sent letters to the legal department at Meta Platforms - the owner of Facebook - and the family of his former student requesting an 'immediate written redaction and public correction.'

The letter to the family also asked the student to identify everyone she sent the screenshots to and 'written confirmation that no further dissemination will occur,' PEOPLE reports. 

'These private communications, which were unrelated to school activities and did no involve any students whatsoever, were deliberately and maliciously screenshot, disseminating among students with the intent of harming Mr Torsiello's reputation, and ultimately circulated publicly,' the letter read.

'Those allegations are categorically false.' 

The student and her family 'have refused to acknowledge nor respond to Torsiello's notice,' according to the suit.

The lawsuit now claims Torsiello suffered 'severe and irreparable harm' by the circulation of his personal messages as he seeks at least $1 million in damages from the student and her family.

He had coached several sports in the Central Regional School District for more than a decade, including boys and girls volleyball and basketball, and in July 2025, Torsiello was named head coach of the Ocean County Community College women's volleyball team.

The lawsuit states his salary at Central High School is approximately $80,000 and his coaching stipends add up to approximately $16,300. 

His salary at Ocean County Community College is also approximately $7,000. 

Torsiello said the college 'wanted to see how it would play out' but that he is not expecting to be asked to return for the 2026 - 27 season.

'I think my coaching days are done. I've kind of accepted that,' Torsiello told NJ.com.

'Because we, as educators, have tenure and that protects us from false accusations like this. But everything else is at will, from coaching to club advisors, and so the schools are free to move on.

'While I personally don't like it for myself, I do understand it,' he said.

Yet Torsiello has not been charged with any crime and said he is not aware of any criminal investigation into his alleged conduct. 

'In the court of public opinion these days, where facts seem to be debatable, you're guilty until you're not,' the teacher lamented.

'But by the time the real story comes out, by then everyone's moved on and no one cares.'