Mar 27, 2009 7:20 pm US/Eastern
Long Island Teacher Accused Of Flashing Students
Cops: Elementary Teacher Went On Excursions Near Hempstead High, Exposed Himself On Several Occasions
HEMPSTEAD (CBS) ―
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Joshua Thomas faces four counts of public lewdness.
CBS
A teacher yanked from an elementary school by police. And now parents are worried about what their children may have been exposed to.
An angry Lorene Cotterel picked up her son in front of Franklin Street School in Hempstead. Notes were coming home with students about a teacher's arrest.
"Why would you leave your wife to come in front of a school and do that? He must have personal issues," Cotterel said.
What "he" is accused of doing boggles the mind. Franklin Elementary teacher Joshua Thomas, 32, a married father of a 2 year old, was discovered on several occasions by parents on Sycamore Avenue -- around the corner from Hempstead High School -- parked in his black Jeep with his pants down, exposing himself in full view of passing high school students walking to school at 8:15 a.m.
The parents called Hempstead Police. Undercover officers then followed the suspect to his job and arrested Thomas inside the elementary school.
"Based on all the information that was gathered – the witness information, the officer's and detective's information -- we have charged this individual with four counts of public lewdness," Nassau County Police Sgt. Anthony Repalone said.
Before Friday's incident, police say Thomas also had been observed by "civilian witnesses" in "the same act" on March 19, 20 and 24, police said. All four incidents occurred in the same general area at about the same time each of the four mornings.
Thomas, who pleaded not guilty, has been teaching third grade at Franklin for six years.
Justin Buchanon's child was taught by the suspect.
"When you hear something like that, definitely, it hurts," Buchanon said. "We got kids running around and somebody is exposing themselves to them."
The school district called in counselors and reacted swiftly. It also issued a statement:
"Mr. Joshua Thomas has been suspended from his position as a teacher at Franklin School. … A letter to parents will arrive in homes this afternoon."
Parent Rayne Shadney said an incident like this hurts the entire community.
"It's scary, very scary," Shadney said.
The suspect made bail and was back home in Central Islip with his family Friday night. A judge ordered him to stay away from all Hempstead schools.
Thomas' arrest is the fourth in a series of bizarre incidents involving local school employees.
A Bridgeport, Conn., kindergarten teacher was recently arrested for allegedly forcing a young student to eat out of a garbage can. A week later at the same school, a science teacher was suspended for striking a student with a screwdriver.
On Thursday CBS 2 HD aired a story about a Riverdale, N.Y., principal that was accused of directing Buddhist chants at teachers he had put on a "hate list."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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