Twenty people who worked at a charter school near Philadelphia were charged on Monday with abusing young children and not reporting it, authorities said.
In court papers, the Chester Township Police Department said that security video caught about 100 incidents at the West Campus of Chester Community Charter School in November and December. The district attorney’s office said that 26 people were hurt in these incidents.
A statement from the office of Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said that the victims were in grades K–5 and were part of the school’s social support program. The DA’s office said some of them were as young as 5 years old.
At a news conference on Monday, Stollsteimer said that he had seen the claimed abuse on alarm video.
“I’ve seen nine people on surveillance video putting their hands on kids, some as young as 5,” Stollsteimer said. “They often use their knees to pick up a child and throw them to the ground.”
Stollsteimer said that official charges were brought first thing Monday morning.
Court records show that on January 9 and 10, family members of two students told the school about their worries. On March 25, police filed their first charges in state court.
According to a police affidavit filed in support of charges, an unnamed parent said their 7-year-old son was afraid to go to school because two staff members had physically held children in a “positive support room” on campus. This was part of a program at the school called Team Approach to Achieving Academic Success.
Similar reports were made by the family of another 7-year-old boy the next day, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said that investigators found consistent reports of staff using “shoulder work” to get kids to do what they were told. This included pinching pressure points on the neck, holding kids with their arms crossed in front of them, and pushing knees into students’ backs.
The DA’s office said that nine people were charged with conspiracy, simple assault, illegal restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child, and failing to report endangering the welfare of a child. The defendants were accused of abusing or touching children.
Eleven of the defendants were charged with failing to report the supposed danger. Three of those charged with failing to report are school workers, and the school said in a statement that they were put on leave while the matter is looked into further.
People in both groups are charged with more than one count of each crime. Police said the second group had a “dean of students” and “teachers.”
The school’s website says that Dahkeem Williams is the head of students.
“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’ lawyer told NBC Philadelphia. This lawyer also represents another defendant in the case.
Stollsteimer’s office said in a statement that some of the people who were charged have made plans to turn themselves in. However, none of them were in arrest.
Online court records didn’t show that most suspects had lawyers. A request for comment Monday night was sent to the Delaware County public defender’s office, but they did not reply right away.
The DA’s statement said, “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.” This was said by Chester Township Police Chief Kenneth Coalson.
Stollsteimer said that people who work in schools are required by state law to report child abuse.
According to the affidavit, none of the instances of using physical contact to get someone to comply with the law were recorded as required by state law.
“This is just not okay to do anywhere, but especially at school with kids who are supposed to be getting emotional support,” Stollsteimer said.
When asked for comment Monday night, the school’s parent-teacher association did not reply right away.
A request for comment was sent to Peak Performers Staffing LLC, the company that the DA said most of the defendants work for. They did not reply. Chester Community Charter School said it had cut ties with the business and its employees.
In a statement, the school said that 17 of those charged work for Peak Performers, which took over the mental support work of a previous, “highly reputable” contractor when that contractor stopped having services for the school.
The school said it was told that Peak Performers employees were properly trained to touch students, but it later found out that they had not gone through the appropriate training.
Peak Performers “tricked” the school, which said it was a victim in the case but didn’t want to be named.
The school said, “CCCS plans to take all appropriate legal action against Peak Performers for the careless and dangerous way it operated.” “The leaders of CCCS are shocked by what Peak Performers did and didn’t do, and they stand with the other victims.”
Chester Community Charter School said in 2018 that it was the biggest charter school with a physical location in Pennsylvania. The school with four campuses says it has more than 4,000 kids in grades K–8. There are about 22 miles between Chester Township and Centre City Philadelphia.
