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Charges Dropped Against Teacher's Aide Arrested For Sexually Abusing A Child
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 27, 2012
Modified Apr 27, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 27, 2012
Modified Apr 27, 2012
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On Monday, teacher's aide Hany Abdalla, 35, was suspended from his job at PS 84 on the Upper West Side. He'd been accused of making a sexually-charged comment to an 8-year-old girl at the school. Then, on Wednesday, Abdalla was arrested after the allegations became even more revolting: police said he was accused of touching the girl "in inappropriate areas" and making her "touch him in inappropriate areas." But last night police released Abdalla after prosecutors declined to press charges.
The 35-year-old father of three was held in jail for over 24 hours, but never went before a judge. His attorney, Virginia LoPreto, said the accuser’s account was contradicted by teachers and other second graders. "There were serious questions about the validity of the allegations,” LoPreto tells the Daily News. "We can only hope that the rumors that this was motivated by ethnic bias are untrue."
LoPreto tells DNAinfo her client was "working in a class that normally had one teacher’s aide to every 12 students, but that the class had one aide per student on the day he was accused of the abuse. There were also four other adults present in the classroom at the time." All the charges were dropped, but it's unclear if Abdalla will be going back to work. A DOE spokesperson tells us, "We have not received official notification. The investigation is ongoing."
Tagged
child abuse
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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