A Bronx elementary school ignored reports that a 10-year-old student was the victim of teacher sex abuse – and instead lectured young whistleblowers “not to spread rumors,” authorities said.
Principal Angelyn Donald, assigned to PS 386 “failed to report observations made by classmates of a 10-year-old female student who was being victimized by their male teacher, 40-year-old Anthony Criscuolo,” said New York schools’ Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon, who released a report on the investigation into Donald on Thursday.
“Specifically, one student saw Criscuolo and the female student exchanging a note during class and a second student saw Criscuolo and the female student kissing in a dark empty classroom,” Condon noted.
Criscuolo was arrested June 19 after the mother of the young girl made a rape complaint to the NYPD. He was removed from teaching and his criminal case is pending in Bronx Supreme Court.
According to the new report, one student told investigators that she went to Donald’s office in May, where three other students were present. One of those students told Donald that Criscuolo and the student were passing notes back and forth, and that he’d seen them kissing.
In response, “Donald said not to spread rumors, to keep it with us, and she would look into it,” according to the report.
One of the students, identified as Student C in the report, told investigators that after Criscuolo and the alleged victim exchanged notes, the teacher threw it in the garbage.
The student retrieved the note and read it.
“Student C confirmed that the note contained a sexually explicit comment,” the report said, adding that Student C stuck to the same story over the course of several interviews.
Another student, identified in the report as Student D, told Donald that he’d returned to Criscuolo’s class early from gym one day and found the lights off and the teacher kissing the alleged victim.
“When Criscuolo saw Student D, he separated from [the alleged victim],” the report says. “Criscuolo did not say anything to Student D. “
“Later that same day, Student D went to Principal Donald and informed her about his observation in the classroom. According to Student D, Donald responded that she wanted proof and dismissed Student D.”
Donald denied to investigators that she’d been alerted to the possible misconduct and said she never promised to look into any allegation, the report said.
“Angelyn Donald asserted that no student ever came to her office with an allegation of something inappropriate occurring between [the alleged victim] and Teacher Criscuolo. Donald maintained that if a student had come to her with an allegation, then she would have called in the case.”
Condon has recommended that Donald be fired and declared ineligible to work in the city school system.