BROOKLYN — A 69-year-old teacher's assistant was arrested Thursday for inappropriately touching a 13-year-old girl with Down syndrome in De Hostos Playground near their school, sources said.
Jesus Lorenzo, 69, who works at I.S. 318 Academy of the Arts and Sciences, 101 Walton St., was sitting on a park bench with the girl about 11 a.m., an NYPD spokesman said.
Someone saw Lorenzo touching her and called police who arrested him at the scene, the spokesman said.
He faces charges of forcible touching, endangering the welfare of a child and sexual conduct with an individual younger than 17, police said.
Lorenzo was arrested twice in 2004, but those records are sealed, police said.
The girl, who sources said has Down syndrome, also attends I.S. 318, but it was not immediately clear how Lorenzo knew her, an NYPD spokesman said.
The school enrolls 1,593 students in grades six through eight, according to the school's website.
The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
