Queens Teacher Accused Of Sexually Abusing 9-Year-Old Girl With Autism
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A Queens teacher was hauled off in handcuffs after police say he sexually abused a 9-year-old special needs student at school.
Those investigators say the suspect was caught in the act by a coworker.
Thursday night, he's behind bars after appearing criminal court.
Parents were stunned to hear about what happened at P.S. 213 in Oakland Gardens.
"Now, I'm worried about my kids," parent Suli Pinos told CBS2's Kevin Rincon.
Police sources tell CBS2 Marc Scheibel, 48, made a 9-year-old non-verbal autistic student touch him inappropriately inside the classroom Wednesday afternoon.
"It's a horrible, tragic thing," parent Christina Xylas added. "We can't have our children going to school and not feeling safe. I've been in this community for over 30 years, I've lived on this block, my nephews graduated from here, and this has always been a good and safe school."
Scheibel has been a teacher for 19 years. He's been a part of the District 75 program, which is tailored for students facing challenges like autism, emotional disturbances and disabilities. The program is run within the school on 67th Avenue, but the children are separated into different classrooms. He was arrested after another teacher recorded what was going on and showed it to the principal.
Inside Queens criminal court, Scheibel was arraigned on child sex abuse charges. He offered no reaction as he was ordered held on $5,000 bail. He didn't make that payment, and for now will remain in custody, Rincon reported.
Whenever he is released, he won't be back at P.S. 213. He's been reassigned away from children.
In a statement, the Department of Education called his behavior "completely unacceptable."
"We immediately reassigned this teacher away from the classroom because of this deeply disturbing allegation," the statement continued. "He will not have any interaction with students."
Scheibel was charged with sexually abusing a child under the age of 17 and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
