Cops cuffed a Marine Park public school’s custodian on Nov. 30 for allegedly sexually assaulting and harassing women inside the Quentin Road school since the summer, police said.
The 32-year-old suspect who worked at PS 222 allegedly rubbed his genitals on a teacher’s buttocks on Nov. 28. She told authorities two days later, officials said.
Four other women who also work at the school then came forward on Nov. 30 to file similar complaints against the suspect, charging that he allegedly rubbed their shoulders inappropriately, hugged them, and pressed his body against them on four separate occasions, including Aug. 1, Aug. 28, Sept. 25, and Nov. 1, according to law enforcement sources.
Police arrested the Department of Education employee outside the school at about 11:30 am Thursday and charged him with forcible touching, sexual abuse, and harassment, but he had yet to be arraigned as of Friday afternoon, according to District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office.
The Department of Education booted the custodian from the school’s grounds and stripped him of his paycheck while police investigate the disturbing accusations, said a spokesman for the city agency.
“(The suspect) was suspended without pay and is not permitted in any of our school buildings pending the outcome of the investigation into these troubling allegations,” said Douglas Cohen.
