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Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Twenty staffers charged after 100 abuse incidents at Philadelphia-area charter school
Twenty members of staff have been charged following roughly a hundred abuse incidents at a Philadelphia charter school, according to prosecutors. Surveillance footage captured the incidents at Chester Community Charter School's West Campus in November and December, the Chester Township Police Department said in court documents. The district attorney's office said 26 victims were involved in grades K-5 and were part of the school's emotional support program, with some of the victims just 5 years old. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Monday that he watched the surveillance footage. 'There are nine individuals who have surveillance video that I've watched putting their hands on children, some as young as 5,' he said, according to NBC News. 'Oftentimes, you can see them using their knee to take a child to the ground.' The district attorney said the formal charges were filed Monday morning. Police filed the initial charges in state court on March 25 after the families of two students separately shared their concerns with the school on January 9 and 10, court documents reveal. One parent, who is not named, said their son, aged 7, was scared to go to school because two members of staff had employed physical holds on children in a 'positive support room' on the campus, which was part of a school program known as Team Approach to Achieving Academic Success, a police affidavit stated. The affidavit noted that the relatives of another 7-year-old boy came forward the following day with similar concerns. Investigators revealed that they found that members of staff had used 'shoulder work' such as pinching pressure points on the neck, and putting children in holds with their arms crossed in front of them, as well as pushing knees into children's backs, according to the affidavit. Nine defendants face allegations of having had physical contact with children, and were charged with conspiracy, simple assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child, and failure to report endangering the welfare of a child, according to the DA's office. Eleven defendants were charged with failing to report the alleged incidents. The school said in a statement that three of those charged with failure to report are school staffers who have been placed on leave. Chester Township Police Chief Kenneth Coalson said in a statement: 'I am proud that today we are holding the support staff, teachers, and even a dean of students accountable for abusing or failing to report the abuse of vulnerable children.' The dean of students is listed as Dahkeem Williams, whose lawyer told NBC Philadelphia: 'We take great exception to the district attorney's statement that 'all the adults charged are equally guilty in failing to protect these children.'' Stollsteimer said: 'This is just unacceptable behavior to happen anywhere, but particularly in a school setting for children who are supposed to be getting emotional support.' According to the district attorney, most of the defendants work for a contractor called Peak Performers Staffing LLC. The Chester Community Charter School has said that it has ended its relationship with the company. In a statement, the school said 17 of those charged work for the company. The school said it was told that company staff were trained in physical contact with students, but that they subsequently found out that that wasn't the case, saying it had been 'duped.' The school said it 'plans to pursue all appropriate legal recourse against Peak Performers for the reckless and dangerous manner in which it operated,' according to NBC News. It added that school 'leaders are outraged at the actions and inactions of Peak Performers and stand in solidarity with the other victims.'
The Independent
02-04-2025
- The Independent
Twenty staffers charged after 100 abuse incidents at Philadelphia-area charter school
Twenty members of staff have been charged following roughly a hundred abuse incidents at a Philadelphia charter school, according to prosecutors. Surveillance footage captured the incidents at Chester Community Charter School's West Campu s in November and December, the Chester Township Police Department said in court documents. The district attorney's office said 26 victims were involved in grades K-5 and were part of the school's emotional support program, with some of the victims just 5 years old. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Monday that he watched the surveillance footage. 'There are nine individuals who have surveillance video that I've watched putting their hands on children, some as young as 5,' he said, according to NBC News. 'Oftentimes, you can see them using their knee to take a child to the ground.' The district attorney said the formal charges were filed Monday morning. Police filed the initial charges in state court on March 25 after the families of two students separately shared their concerns with the school on January 9 and 10, court documents reveal. One parent, who is not named, said their son, aged 7, was scared to go to school because two members of staff had employed physical holds on children in a 'positive support room' on the campus, which was part of a school program known as Team Approach to Achieving Academic Success, a police affidavit stated. The affidavit noted that the relatives of another 7-year-old boy came forward the following day with similar concerns. Investigators revealed that they found that members of staff had used 'shoulder work' such as pinching pressure points on the neck, and putting children in holds with their arms crossed in front of them, as well as pushing knees into children's backs, according to the affidavit. Nine defendants face allegations of having had physical contact with children, and were charged with conspiracy, simple assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child, and failure to report endangering the welfare of a child, according to the DA's office. Eleven defendants were charged with failing to report the alleged incidents. The school said in a statement that three of those charged with failure to report are school staffers who have been placed on leave. Chester Township Police Chief Kenneth Coalson said in a statement: 'I am proud that today we are holding the support staff, teachers, and even a dean of students accountable for abusing or failing to report the abuse of vulnerable children.' The dean of students is listed as Dahkeem Williams, whose lawyer told NBC Philadelphia: 'We take great exception to the district attorney's statement that 'all the adults charged are equally guilty in failing to protect these children.'' Stollsteimer said: 'This is just unacceptable behavior to happen anywhere, but particularly in a school setting for children who are supposed to be getting emotional support.' According to the district attorney, most of the defendants work for a contractor called Peak Performers Staffing LLC. The Chester Community Charter School has said that it has ended its relationship with the company. In a statement, the school said 17 of those charged work for the company. The school said it was told that company staff were trained in physical contact with students, but that they subsequently found out that that wasn't the case, saying it had been 'duped.' The school said it 'plans to pursue all appropriate legal recourse against Peak Performers for the reckless and dangerous manner in which it operated,' according to NBC News. It added that school 'leaders are outraged at the actions and inactions of Peak Performers and stand in solidarity with the other victims.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Staffers charged with abusing 26 students at Pennsylvania school
Twenty staffers at a Pennsylvania charter school have been charged in connection with the physical abuse of more than two dozen children, some of them as young as 5 years old, prosecutors announced. All 26 alleged victims, ranging from kindergarteners to fifth graders, were enrolled in a behavioral and emotional support program at Chester Community Charter School called the Team Approach to Achieving Academic Success. They were each allegedly subjected to painful punishments at the Philly-area school, including what the students called 'shoulder work,' the office of Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in a statement The tactic involved 'pinching students on pressure points near their necks, placing them in holds with their arms crossed in front of them, and having a knee applied to their back until the student was brought to the ground.' The young victims were also allegedly physically restrained at times as a form punishment. 'This case is every parents' nightmare,' Stollsteimer said. 'We send our children to school expecting the adults will keep them safe, not abuse them physically and emotionally,' he continued. 'Our investigation showed some staffers physically abusing children while others sat passively and watched.' An investigation into the matter was launched in January, after a 7-year-old boy told his parents he was afraid to go to school because his classmates were being physically restrained in a 'positive support room' on campus, according to an affidavit obtained by NBC News. The next day, the relatives of another 7-year-old came forward with similar allegations regarding the mistreatment of their child. Investigators went on to uncover roughly 100 incidents of alleged abuse, all of them caught on security cameras, the district attorney's office said. Of the 20 people charged, nine have been accused of abusing students. They are facing counts of conspiracy, simple assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child and failure to report endangering the welfare of a child, the DA's office said. The other 11 have been charged with failure to report the alleged endangerment, and three of them have been placed on leave pending further investigation. Police said the latter group includes a 'dean of students' as well as 'teachers.' The suspects also include 17 contractors from a Chester-based third-party company called Peak Performers Staffing, according to school spokesperson Max Tribble. The school terminated its contract with the company after learning its contractors were using 'disciplinary methods which are strictly prohibited by the school,' he told the Philly Voice. 'The health and safety of our students is always our top priority and that is why we acted quickly to ensure that students would not be further subjected to any unauthorized disciplinary methods.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Staffers charged with abusing 26 students at Pennsylvania school
Twenty staffers at a Pennsylvania charter school have been charged in connection with the physical abuse of more than two dozen children, some of them as young as 5 years old, prosecutors announced. All 26 alleged victims, ranging from kindergarteners to fifth graders, were enrolled in a behavioral and emotional support program at Chester Community Charter School called the Team Approach to Achieving Academic Success. They were each allegedly subjected to painful punishments at the Philly-area school, including what the students called 'shoulder work,' the office of Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in a statement The tactic involved 'pinching students on pressure points near their necks, placing them in holds with their arms crossed in front of them, and having a knee applied to their back until the student was brought to the ground.' The young victims were also allegedly physically restrained at times as a form punishment. 'This case is every parents' nightmare,' Stollsteimer said. 'We send our children to school expecting the adults will keep them safe, not abuse them physically and emotionally,' he continued. 'Our investigation showed some staffers physically abusing children while others sat passively and watched.' An investigation into the matter was launched in January, after a 7-year-old boy told his parents he was afraid to go to school because his classmates were being physically restrained in a 'positive support room' on campus, according to an affidavit obtained by NBC News. The next day, the relatives of another 7-year-old came forward with similar allegations regarding the mistreatment of their child. Investigators went on to uncover roughly 100 incidents of alleged abuse, all of them caught on security cameras, the district attorney's office said. Of the 20 people charged, nine have been accused of abusing students. They are facing counts of conspiracy, simple assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child and failure to report endangering the welfare of a child, the DA's office said. The other 11 have been charged with failure to report the alleged endangerment, and three of them have been placed on leave pending further investigation. Police said the latter group includes a 'dean of students' as well as 'teachers.' The suspects also include 17 contractors from a Chester-based third-party company called Peak Performers Staffing, according to school spokesperson Max Tribble. The school terminated its contract with the company after learning its contractors were using 'disciplinary methods which are strictly prohibited by the school,' he told the Philly Voice. 'The health and safety of our students is always our top priority and that is why we acted quickly to ensure that students would not be further subjected to any unauthorized disciplinary methods.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Staffers charged in alleged abuse of 26 children at Philadelphia-area school
Twenty workers at a Philadelphia-area charter school were charged in connection with allegations of abuse of young children and failure to report it, prosecutors announced Monday. The Chester Township Police Department said in court documents that security video captured roughly 100 incidents at Chester Community Charter School's West Campus in November and December involving what the district attorney's office said are 26 victims. The victims, in grades K-5, were members of the school's emotional support program, the office of Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in a statement. Some of them were as young as 5 years old, the DA's office said. Stollsteimer said at a news conference Monday that he watched security video of the alleged abuse. 'There are nine individuals who have surveillance video that I've watched putting their hands on children, some as young as 5,' Stollsteimer said. 'Oftentimes, you can see them using their knee to take a child to the ground.' Stollsteimer said formal charges were filed Monday morning. Police filed initial charges in state court March 25 after family members of two students separately raised concerns to the school on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, according to court documents. An unnamed parent said their 7-year-old son was afraid to go to school because two staffers had used physical holds on children in a 'positive support room' on campus, part of a program at the school called Team Approach to Achieving Academic Success, according to a police affidavit filed in support of charges. Relatives of another 7-year-old boy stepped forward the next day with similar complaints, the affidavit said. Investigators said they found consistent accounts that staffers used 'shoulder work' — including pinching pressure points on the neck, placing children in holds with their arms crossed in front of them and pushing knees into students' backs — as a way of gaining physical compliance, the affidavit said. Nine defendants alleged to have abused or had physical contact with children were charged with conspiracy, simple assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child and failure to report endangering the welfare of a child, the DA's office said. Eleven defendants were charged with failure to report the alleged endangerment. Three of those charged with failure to report are school employees and were placed on leave pending further investigation, the school said in a statement. Both groups of defendants include people with multiple counts of each charge. Police indicated a 'dean of students' and 'teachers' were among the second group. On its website, the school lists the dean of students as Dahkeem Williams. 'We take great exception to the District Attorney's statement that 'all the adults charged are equally guilty in failing to protect these children,'' Williams' attorney, who also represents another defendant in the case, told NBC Philadelphia. None of those charged were in custody, but some have made arrangements to surrender, Stollsteimer's office said in its statement. Online court records did not list attorneys for most defendants. The public defender's office for Delaware County did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. 'I am proud that today we are holding the support staff, teachers, and even a dean of students accountable for abusing or failing to report the abuse, of vulnerable children,' Chester Township Police Chief Kenneth Coalson said in the DA's statement. Stollsteimer noted that state law mandates reporting child abuse for those who work in school settings. Individual incidents of using physical contact for compliance must each be reported under state regulations, and none were, according to the affidavit. 'This is just unacceptable behavior to happen anywhere, but particularly in a school setting for children who are supposed to be getting emotional support,' Stollsteimer said. The school parent-teacher association did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. The contractor for whom the DA said most of the defendants work, Peak Performers Staffing LLC, did not respond to a request for comment. Chester Community Charter School said it severed ties with the company and its workers. The school said in a statement that 17 of those charged work for Peak Performers, which it said took over a previous, 'highly reputable' contractor's emotional support work after that contractor discontinued the services the school was using. The school said it was assured the Peak Performers employees were properly trained in physical contact with students but later learned they had not completed the necessary training. The school characterized itself as an unnamed victim in the case, saying it was 'duped' by Peak Performers. 'CCCS plans to pursue all appropriate legal recourse against Peak Performers for the reckless and dangerous manner in which it operated,' the school said. 'CCCS leaders are outraged at the actions and inactions of Peak Performers and stands in solidarity with the other victims.' In 2018, Chester Community Charter School said it was the largest brick-and-mortar charter school in Pennsylvania. The K-8, four-campus school says it serves more than 4,000 students. Chester Township is about 22 miles southwest of Center City Philadelphia. This article was originally published on
