Teacher acquitted in child endangerment case

A Nassau County jury has acquitted a Syosset middle school teacher whose journal correspondence with a 13-year-old boy had been called "immoral, unhealthy and inappropriate" by authorities.

Ian Edrich's child endangerment trial lasted two weeks. He was acquitted of the misdemeanor charge Tuesday, said Edrich's lawyer, Tom Lavallee of Hauppauge.

The Syosset school district suspended Edrich with pay after he was arrested in January 2010. He later resigned, his lawyer said.

"A giant weight was lifted off his shoulders," Lavallee said. "But it might be too little, too late. The allegations alone just stay with you."

Lavallee said Edrich, who was an English teacher at H.B. Thompson Middle School, maintained a journal with the student he had been mentoring.

Edrich, 37, of East Meadow, said in the journal that he loved the boy, and the boy wrote about feeling jealous of Edrich's other students, Lavallee said.

The boy's mother found the journal, Lavallee said. She brought it to school officials, who alerted police.

Police said at the time that Edrich was grooming the boy for a sexual relationship. Lavallee said his client was only trying to show his student that he cared.

Of the acquittal, the Nassau County district attorney's office said in a statement: "While we remain deeply disturbed by the relationship between Mr. Edrich and his student, we respect the jury's verdict."

School district officials could not be reached for comment.