Bronx Assistant Principal Accused Of Groping 2 Female Students
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An assistant principal at a Bronx grade school was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he groped two students.
Joseph Ponzo, an assistant principal at PS 106 since 2008, faces sex abuse and other charges, police said.
Sources told 1010 WINS, Ponzo is accused of inappropriately touching a 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl over their clothing. It allegedly happened in the hallway of the school.
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The name of Ponzo's attorney was not immediately available. The Bronx District Attorney's office declined comment.
Reporter Al Jones, of 1010 WINS, talked to parents who said the charges just don't add up to the man they dealt with on a daily basis.
Jeff McIntyre, who has two children at the school, was quite surprised to hear about the charges.
"My son is about to graduate from this school as well as my daughter. I would have trusted him implacably," he said.
Ponzo's was the latest in a spate of cases this year involving Board of Education employees accused of sexually abusing minors.
They include an aide at a school in Brooklyn accused of recording himself sexually assaulting students at the elementary school, staff members at schools in Manhattan and Queens accused of fondling young boys, and a substitute teacher at a Bronx high school accused of twisting a student's nipples.
The Board of Education said in a statement Tuesday, "We take these cases very seriously." The board declined further comment.
Ponzo, 59, was first hired as a substitute teacher in 1996. He makes $117,739 a year in his current job.
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