PA Teacher's Aide Gets No Jail for Fondling Boy - Update

(Montgomery County, Pennsylvania) In accordance with an agreement with the prosecution, 29-year-old former teacher's aide, Michele E. Zulkowsky, pleaded guilty this week in Montgomery County Court to corrupting a minor and endangering the welfare of a child.

After accepting the terms of the plea deal, Judge William R. Carpenter sentenced Zulkowsky to five years of probation, a $100 fine and ordered her to pay court costs. She was also ordered to continue counseling treatment and to have no contact with her victim.

"Her crime was developing inappropriate feelings for one of her students but she recognized she had a problem and sought help before she committed more serious crimes," said county Assistant District Attorney Todd Stephens, adding that probation was what was called for under sentencing guidelines.

"She recognized there was something wrong with the feelings she was developing for this student."

Zulkowsky, realizing her feelings for and actions with the student were inappropriate and that she could not control those feelings, called a help line that then reported it to the county's Office of Children and Youth, who contacted Towamencin police.

So, it appears that the ESL student had a powerful kavorka which drew her in, closer and closer, but before it went too far, she turned to the authorities. The court gave her credit for realizing what she was doing was wrong and stopping it.

The court also barred Zulkowsky from teaching or being around children.


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Teacher's Aide Arrested for Fondling Boy
[Previous 5/2/08 post]
(North Wales, Pennsylvania) A 28-year-old teacher's aide at Montgomery County High School, Michele E. Zulkowsky, was arrested for alleged inappropriate touching of a 16-year-old boy during school hours.

Zulkowsky faces charges of inappropriate contact and child endangerment.

"As an adult, she is placed in a position of trust. She is the person who is held to a higher standard," said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.

Investigators said the 16-year-old was in an English as a Second Language, or ESL, class because he needed a little help in school due to a language barrier.

Prosecutors said the charges stem from incidents that occurred from January to April 2008 between Zulkowsky and the 10th-grader, who was in her charge.

"They were being very sneaky, secretive about it, and even in an environment where people were present they were able to communicate with each other and engage in some of these acts, which were against the law," Ferman said.

Those acts, according to court papers, happened inside a classroom. Court documents said Zulkowsky held hands with the teen and gave him pictures.

But investigators said the touching escalated from just holding hands to fondling. Court papers said the two would rub each other's hands, legs and thighs.

Zulkowsky herself notified authorities of the relationship, reportedly because she saw that the relationship had gone too far and she wanted help to stop it. Before Zulkowsky could be suspended from her job, she resigned.

She was booked and released on $25,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 8.