School janitor accused of sexual abuse of 10-year- old

Columbus police and Franklin County Children Services are investigating the head custodian at a South Side elementary school after a report of sexual abuse involving a 10-year-old girl, police said.

The head custodian at Cedarwood Elementary currently is home on paid leave, Columbus City Schools officials said. Police received the complaint Sept. 13, said police spokeswoman Denise Alex-Bouzounis.

It is unclear when the district put the 61-year-old man on leave; the district has not turned over records of its in-house investigation in response to a records request by The Dispatch earlier this week.

The custodian previously worked at East High School, where he also was the subject of a disciplinary investigation, but details on the nature of that case weren’t available Friday, said district spokesman Scott Varner. The custodian was hired in summer 2009, and worked as a substitute custodian before that.

The Dispatch is not naming him because he has not been charged with a crime.

Cedarwood Principal Latasha Turner informed parents of the investigation in a letter Wednesday, which did name the man.

“It would be inappropriate of me to share any specific details of an active investigation,” Turner wrote, “but please know that the Cedarwood staff and representatives of the district are working very closely with investigators.

“Reports on this investigation may appear in newspapers, on television, or in personal conversations, causing some of our young students to ask questions or seek out explanations from each other, or from the closest adults,” Turner said in the letter. “Tonight, I would encourage you to have a conversation with your child.”

If those conversations with Cedarwood students reveal any information that could aid in the investigation, parents should call Columbus police, the letter said.