School employee faces sexual abuse charges
Suspect is hall monitor, wrestling coach
A Coxsackie-Athens High School hall monitor and wrestling coach faces several misdemeanor charges in a case alleging the sexual abuse and forcible touching of students in the school district, state police and district officials said Thursday.
On Wednesday, state police at Catskill arrested Vincenzo Multari, 45, of Athens, and charged him with endangering the welfare of a child, forcible touching and three counts of sexual abuse, all misdemeanors, according to a state police press release and an email sent to parents by district Superintendent Randall Squier early Thursday morning.
In a phone interview Thursday afternoon, Squier said Multari, who has been employed by the district for “a couple of years,” was on paid administrative leave as of his arrest Wednesday.
Multari’s arrest followed an investigation conducted by state police and the village of Coxsackie police, state police said.
Multari was arraigned in Coxsackie Town Court and sent to the Greene County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail.
In the email to parents, Squier wrote, “First, you should know that Coxsackie-Athens Schools have no higher priority than maintaining safe and secure environments for teaching and learning. We carefully screen any job candidates before we make a hiring decision. We require all staff to take training on relevant topics such as sexual harassment and appropriate classroom behaviors for educators.”
Squier wrote that the district is “thoroughly reviewing this incident and have been and will be cooperating with police in their investigation . ... I can assure you that we will seek opportunities to improve our practices from what we learn from these reviews.”