Four Apple Pay transfers totaling $1,250 charged against restrained victim

Amanda Crafts and Veda Engel were released from custody on Oct. 15, ending a week-long detention following an alleged prostitution scheme at an Atlantic City hotel. The state consented to their pretrial release, a decision that requires both women to check in with the court every other week. Their freedom came after a detailed complaint outlined how a male victim was restrained and financially drained inside a resort room.

The financial loss at the center of the case is precise: four separate Apple Pay transactions totaling $1,250. According to the complaint, Engel used the victim's facial recognition to unlock his phone while he was pinned to the bed. The detective noted in affidavits that these transfers were made without the victim's consent and in exchange for sexual acts.

Crafts, 35, of Wildwood Crest, worked in the special area department of Middle Township Middle School, teaching computers. She told Judge Timothy Maguire during a video appearance that she had never been arrested before and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Engel, 23, of Cape May, is employed by a commercial cleaning company in Ocean City and has a prior record involving prostitution charges.

Police reports state the victim met the two women at a bar and later joined them in their room. Once inside, the women reportedly stripped him and physically restrained him. Engel performed sexual acts before announcing the cost of the encounter. While Crafts held the victim down, Engel executed the digital payments.

The Middle Township school district confirmed the termination of Crafts in a statement released on Oct. 19. Superintendent Stephanie DeRose said the district's responsibility is to protect students and ensure employees meet expected standards. The district noted that the safety and well-being of students remain the highest priority.

The incident occurred on Oct. 9, two weeks before this report. Engel has faced similar allegations in the past, including an incident last year where she allegedly offered an undercover detective sex for $1,000 at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. That prior encounter resulted in a summons, and she was released at the time.

Both women were identified through the New Jersey Department of Corrections and local court records. The case highlights the intersection of digital payment methods and physical restraint in hotel-based schemes. The victim's account forms the basis of the current charges, with the $1,250 sum serving as the quantified loss.