Brentwood schools staff member reassigned amid probe into sex abuse allegation
The district announced the investigation in a letter Friday to parents. Credit: Brentwood School District
The Brentwood school district has reassigned a staff member following a former student's accusation that the staffer had sexually abused the student in the past, school officials said.
The district announced the investigation in a letter Friday to parents. The letter said the district received a letter from someone who identified themselves only as a former student, saying they had been sexually abused by a staff member.
The staff member, whom the district did not identify, has been reassigned and is not currently working with students, pending the outcome of the investigation, according to the letter to parents signed by Superintendent Richard Loeschner and school board president Robert Feliciano.
District officials also said they notified the authorities. Suffolk County police could not immediately confirm they were investigating.
"Child abuse in any form, especially that of a sexual nature, should be exposed and individuals proven to engage in such actions must be held accountable to the maximum extent allowed by law," the district letter said.
The district letter did not say when the alleged abuse occurred beyond saying it was in the past. Neither did the district letter identify any specifics of the accusation.
Loeschner and Feliciano declined to elaborate or be interviewed.
School officials emphasized in their letter the district's responsibility to make sure schools are safe environments for children.
"Schools must be a place where parents can trust that their children will be safe, second only to the safety of their own homes," the letter to parents said. "It is the responsibility of our schools to honor and uphold that trust. While we are proud to say that our schools are safe for the overwhelming majority of our students, allegations of abuse against even one of our students is unsettling and unacceptable."
The district letter also asked parents to reach out to school officials if they hear any such allegations.
"If you see or hear something, say something. Daunting as it may be, we ask that your decision to step forward and report this type of behavior be led by an understanding of the unconscionable severity of this type of abuse," the letter said. "We ask that you reflect on the lifelong trauma that will be endured by the victims against whom these crimes are committed."
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
