All Charges Dismissed Against North Shore Middle School Teacher

GLEN HEAD, N.Y., Nov. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- All charges were dismissed against a North Shore Middle School physical education teacher and lacrosse coach.  Aaron Kozlowski had been charged earlier this year with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. On September 27, 2013, Judge Alexander dismissed all four counts against him.  "The charges were dismissed in the interest of justice," said Adam Ford, an attorney representing Kozlowski in connection with a civil action arising from the incident.

Last March, four seventh-grade students claimed to have witnessed Kozlowski watching pornography in his school office and touching himself. Kozlowski was arrested and charged criminally and suspended from his teaching and coaching positions. After a thorough investigation by the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, insufficient evidence was found to support any of the charges.  During the investigation, one of the four students recanted, and acknowledged his sworn statement to the police was fictitious. Two of the students refused to communicate with the District Attorney throughout the length of the investigation. One of the other students also now claims to have not been present on the day of the alleged incident and to not have any knowledge of it.  A forensic search was conducted on the school computer in Kozlowski's office, as well as on his and his wife's personal laptops, with no evidence found to support the students' claims.

Kozlowski was a reputable scholar-athlete who graduated from Hofstra University. He has been with the North Shore School District for ten years as a teacher and lacrosse coach, soccer coach, football coach, and basketball coach without incident.  He has been kept out of the classroom and from his coaching positions since the complaint was first made last March. He wishes to return to teaching as soon as possible, and is considering a civil lawsuit.  "All that I want," Kozlowski said, "is for my long-standing, good reputation to be restored.  Having the charges dismissed in the manner they were was a vindication, but there is still a long road ahead to repair all the damage that has been done by the lies these students told." 

"There was never any credible evidence to support these claims, which were filled with inconsistencies from the start. The right decision was made to dismiss all charges," said Marc Gann, Kozlowski's attorney. "My client is obviously innocent and wants nothing more than to go back to living his normal life by returning to teaching, returning to coaching."

SOURCE Harris, O'Brien, St. Laurent & Chaudhry LLP