Replying to My gym teacher got busted on 6 sexual charges
First off let me give you some background. this guy was creepy as hell last year. Despite what it says it IS the same girl. He would always bring her in his office and close the door and would never leave her side. Actually he would always close the door when there was a girl in there. never guys. Norton is a pretty damn strict dude and booted him immediately after finding this out last year. Maleki.... well he owes me a dollar and wont fork it over so i bug him everytime I see him. Menchin got arrested last thursday i belive so it is pretty recent. yeah. now read
SOMERS - A former teacher and coach at John F. Kennedy Catholic High
School, charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old female student, was
forced to resign at the start of the 2006-07 school year after parents
expressed concern about telephone and e-mail conversations he had with
their daughter, school officials said yesterday.
William R. Menchen, 34, of Wappingers Falls, who worked as a substitute
gym teacher at Rye Neck High School this year, is charged with six
misdemeanor counts in the alleged abuse of a 15-year-old girl he met at
the start of the 2005-06 school year at JFK.
It was unclear yesterday whether the girl was the same girl with whom
Menchen had been in contact before his leaving JFK.
A spokesman for JFK said Menchen would have been dismissed last year had
he refused to resign.
"He had violated (New York Roman Catholic) archdiocesian policy with
regard to inappropriate contact with a student," said the spokesman,
Alex Malecki. "At the time, an investigation did take place via the
Westchester District Attorney's Office. No charges were filed."
The Rev. Stephen Norton, president of JFK, said the Mamaroneck district
had contacted the Catholic school's athletic director, Pat Maurer,
before hiring Menchen as a substitute.
"I would have been very clear if they had called my office and said that
we asked him to resign," Norton said.
Rye Neck Superintendent Peter Mustich said his district's athletic
director got a "glowing recommendation" from Maurer and was told that
Menchen was leaving the Catholic school for more money and to pursue
graduate studies. Mustich was critical of JFK's handling of the inquiry,
something the JFK president defended.
"I'm not sure she had all the pieces of information at the time," Norton
said of Maurer.
Menchen worked 12 days this year in Rye Neck, Mustich said, and had
undergone a routine criminal background check.
"(He) will not be returning" to Rye Neck, Mustich said.
Menchen had worked as a gym teacher at JFK at least since 2001. He was
also the girls volleyball coach from 2001 to 2003 and coached boys
baseball, beginning in 2002.
Malecki, the JFK spokesman, said administrators had known of no other
inappropriate incidents involving Menchen, other than the conversations
with the girl.
"My understanding from those conversations was that, at that juncture,
this young lady's parents did not believe that anything sexual was going
on, but perhaps (it) was moving in an inappropriate direction," he said.
Norton said JFK was also aware that Menchen had a police record when it
hired him. He apparently was convicted of a minor charge in Connecticut
in 2001.
"From his discussion with me, (one incident) was a college kind of stunt
or something and he went too far, and it was one of those college things
that had happened," Norton said. "The archdiocese was not ready to
dismiss him at that time with that explanation. Aside from periodic
tardiness, we didn't have any other problems with Bill. ... At the time,
I was looking at an employee who was doing a good job for us."
Putnam County sheriff's investigators on Thursday accused Menchen, a
former Patterson resident, of inappropriate conduct with a 15-year-old
Putnam County girl during the summer in Kent. He is charged with one
count of third-degree sexual abuse, three counts of child endangerment
and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.
The sexual-abuse charge alleges that he subjected the girl to sexual
touching; the endangering charge because his actions were likely to hurt
her physically, mentally or morally; and the unlawful imprisonment
counts because he used his car to transport her without her parents'
consent. The case remains under investigation, said sheriff's Chief
Investigator A. Gerald Schramek.
Menchen, free on $15,000 bail, is due in Kent Town Court on Oct. 16.
Efforts to reach him by telephone were unsuccessful.
Click to expand post