New Jersey teacher, water polo coach accused of groping sleeping students
LAWRENCEVILLE, New Jersey (WABC) -- A 23-year-old teacher and water polo coach at a private school in New Jersey is accused of entering the dorm rooms of and groping two male students while they slept.
Authorities say Dominic Brown was a second-year fellow at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville and is charged with two counts of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact and two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The complaint alleges that Brown entered the dorm rooms of two teenage boys early Saturday morning and inappropriately touched them while they were sleeping.
The victims contacted campus public safety and, subsequently, the Lawrence Township Police Department and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office were notified.
Brown is being held in the Mercer County Correction Center.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information on the case as urged to contact Detective Alicia Bergondo of the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit at (609) 989-6568.
Head Master Steve Murray sent the following letter to the Lawrenceville School community on October 5:
"I am writing to inform you of an incident that happened on our campus early this morning and our response to it. Although we are still investigating, so far we know that a teacher in the second year of his internship entered a House and reportedly had inappropriate contact with two students. We informed law enforcement and they are investigating. The students have been offered counseling and support from faculty and others. The teacher has been banned from campus and terminated.
This incident is deeply troubling and violates the foundation of trust that our community holds between adults and the students in our care. Nothing in the teacher's background check or references would have led us to believe he would act in this manner.
I commend the students for speaking up - and encourage anyone who may have additional information about this incident to share it with us. A number of options are available. Students can contact me directly either through my office phone: (609) 896-0408, or my email: headmaster@lawrenceville.org; they can contact Blake Eldridge, our Dean of Students, at beldridge@lawrenceville.org or (609) 895-2068; or they can use our highly confidential, anonymous reporting portal hosted by Navex, which is open to all members of the Lawrenceville community, through the following link: https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/48378/index.html.
Lawrenceville's top priority is the security and well-being of our students and making sure that our campus community is a safe environment for all."
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