Former elementary school principal charged for alleged sexual misconduct with student
The former principal at Primos Elementary School
By Jasmine Payoute
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UPPER DARBY, Pennsylvania (KYW) — A former elementary school principal in Delaware County is behind bars, accused of sexually assaulting a young child. The alleged incident happened years ago. Police announced the arrest of 43-year-old Jonathan Wisneski, the former principal at Primos Elementary School, on Friday.
Authorities arrested and charged Wisneski with eight charges ranging from sexual contact with a student to indecent assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to the criminal complaint, one victim says in 2018, when she was around 10 years old, the victim slapped her on the backside. It also says Wisneski allegedly watched as juveniles played a game called butt ball in his office. The game required the juveniles to hit the ball with their butt.
Wisneski was the principal at Primos Elementary School about three years ago.
“He had not been a principal for a long period of time,” Upper Darby Superintendent Daniel McGarry said. “It was the beginning of his career.”
Wisneski was employed with the Devereux CARES School District in Downingtown, but he’s been placed on administrative leave since the alleged charges emerged.
A spokesperson from Devereux said Wisneski no longer has access to any of the school’s programs, students, or staff. The spokesperson also said he cleared state and federal criminal and abuse background checks before being hired last year.
“It’s a privilege and an honor to work with children and we take that very seriously and that’s why this is such a heartbreaking press conference for me,” McGarry said.
At a news conference Friday, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollesteimer said allegations against the former principal came up years ago, but it wasn’t until this week they were given new information and new allegations were made.
“In Delaware County, we have no tolerance for people who prey on our children,” Stollesteimer said. “We will hunt you down and we will bring you to justice. This is what this case stands for. We are going to make sure that anyone, especially somebody who is given a position of trust to be, not to just be a teacher, a principal, in an elementary school who was preying on our school children, we will do everything in our power to bring you to justice.”
Officials say they currently have one elementary-age victim but believe there could be more.
“The district attorney and the superintendent of schools were shocked, outraged, we’re frustrated, we’re angry, we share that with everybody else,” Tim Bernhardt, the superintendent of the Upper Darby Police Department, said. “We are not going to tolerate it, that’s why we’re here today. We will ask parents to have that difficult conversation with their children to see if there are any more victims out there. And if there are any more victims, we want them to be brought forward. We want to be able to interview them and see if there are any other allegations.”
Wisneski’s bail was set at $150,000.
Anyone with information on this is asked to contact the police.
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