Bronx Assistant Principal Accused Of Groping 2 Female Students To Be Arraigned
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Bronx school administrator is expected to be arraigned today on sex abuse charges.
Police say 59-year-old Joseph Ponzo, the assistant principal of P.S. 106 in Parkchester, was arrested Tuesday on charges he allegedly fondled two girls, ages 10 and 11, inside the school.
Ponzo is the latest in a series of city school workers who have been charged with allegedly abusing students in the last two months.
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 forcible touching.
The Board of Education issued a statement Tuesday, saying: "We take these cases very seriously."
The board declined further comment.
School officials say he has been the assistant principal since 2008, but has been re-assigned pending the outcome of his case.
Police say Ponzo faces two counts of sex abuse and two counts of acting in a manner injurious to a child under the age of 17.
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