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Bronx Assistant Principal Charged With Touching Two Girls at School

By Amy Zimmer | April 3, 2012 4:48pm
Police charged an assistant principal at the Bronx's P.S. 106 with sex abuse Tuesday, April 3, 2012.
Police charged an assistant principal at the Bronx's P.S. 106 with sex abuse Tuesday, April 3, 2012.
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BRONX — An assistant principal at P.S. 106 was arrested Tuesday and charged with sexually abusing two girls in the Parkchester school building's hallway, police said.

Joseph Ponzo, 59, was charged with sex abuse and acting in a manner "injurious to a child," police said.

He is suspected of touching the clothed breasts of two girls, ages 10 and 11, in the hallway of the school on March 27, police said.

Ponzo began working as a substitute teacher in 1996 and was hired as a teacher at P.S. 226 in the Bronx the following year, Department of Education officials said. In 2000, he was promoted to an assistant principal position at P.S. 396, where he worked until joining P.S. 106 in 2008.

Ponzo was reassigned pending the outcome of the police investigation, school officials said.

He earns $117,739 a year.

Ponzo had no history of previous incidents, according to DOE officials.

He is at least the seventh school worker charged in the last three months with a sexual offense against a student. The spate of arrests has prompted the education department to review its policies on reassigning and disciplining employees.