Lehigh County Teacher Charged in Child Sex Assault Also Worked in Nazareth

An Allentown School District substitute teacher -- who also worked for the Nazareth Area School District -- was charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting a 9-year-old student at Union Terrace Elementary School.

Michael James Agrippine, 47, of 6881 Main St., Coopersburg, is charged with aggravated indecent assault, a first-degree felony; institutional sexual assault, a third-degree felony; and indecent assault, a misdemeanor of the first degree.

Read more: Report Child Rape Via Toll-Free Hotline

District Attorney Jim Martin said the school district has cooperated fully in the investigation.

Agrippine is in police custody, according to a press release issued Wednesday afternoon by the district attorney's office.

An affidavit of probable cause filed by a detective in the Allentown Police Department Special Victims Unit alleges the following:

On Jan. 21, 2013, the victim was interviewed by a child interview specialist for Lehigh County.

The victim, a student at Union Terrace Elementary School at 1939 W. Union St., Allentown, said he was sexually assaulted by Agrippine, who was temporarily employed by the Allentown School District as a substitute teacher at Union Terrace Elementary School.

The victim said he was in the bathroom in the basement level hallway near his classroom on Jan. 18, 2013, when the defendant put him against a wall and held him from behind.

The boy told the child interview specialist that Agrippine pulled his pants down and that he felt something penetrate his anus.

In addition to working at Union Terrace Elementary School:

• Documents from the Nazareth Area School District show that Agrippine was added as a substitute teacher at the Sept. 25, 2006 school board meeting.

• Documents from the Quakertown Community School District show that a Michael Aggripine was on the approved list of 2008-2009 substitute school teachers at the May 22, 2008 school board meeting. Additional documents show a Michael Aggripine was on the approved list of substitues for the 2007-2008 school year as well.

• Documents from the Williamsport Area School District show that Michael James Agrippine, of 6881 Main St., Coopersburg, was hired as a substitute teacher for the Williamsport School District at the Sept. 18, 2012 school board meeting.

As in every criminal case, the fact that an arrest has occurred or a complaint has been filed is merely an accusation; and the defendant, Michael James Agrippine, is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.