James Burke, 27, teacher at PS 69 Daniel D. Tompkins, New York City Department of Education, New Springville, New York City, New York, "facing charges of 'inappropriate behavior' towards a student ... string of anonymous false claims of sexual misconduct against fellow teachers" It appears he is not in the legal system at all -- not arrested or formally charged -- but has only been "reassigned" to other duties within the NYC school system. Staten Island Advance: Report: Staten Island teacher made anonymous calls alleging sexual abuse at his, other schools (Jan 21 2014) A Staten Island teacher under investigation for his interactions with an autistic boy waged a campaign of false sexual-abuse complaints targeting witnesses against him, their relatives and other city school employees, according to a report by schools Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon.James Burke, 27, became the subject of an investigation by Condon's office on May 31, when a dean at his school, PS 69 in New Springville, accused him of inappropriate behavior toward an autistic 8-year-old boy, according to the report, which Condon sent to schools Chancellor Carmen Farina on Tuesday.After that, Condon's office received a flurry of anonymous complaints against the witnesses in that case and their family members, as well as other Department of Education staff members, the report alleges. Many of them led to investigations by the NYPD's Staten Island Special Victims Squad, Condon wrote.The first complaint came on July 26 -- a male caller who claimed to be the father of a 7-year-old boy attending PS 69 accused a female teacher there of touching his son's private parts when they were alone in the classroom, the report said. It turned out that the boy didn't live with or even know his father, and the boy's mother told police "there never was a father" in the household, the report said.More complaints followed ... Tags:
New York Post: Teacher charged with ‘inappropriate behavior’ causes havoc at school (Jan 21 2014) A Staten Island teacher accused of improperly touching a student waged a war against whistle-blowing colleagues by filing more than a dozen fabricated complaints of sexual and other misconduct, the school system’s Special Commissioner of Investigation said Tuesday. Over a three-month period, James Burke made 13 false accusations against teachers at PS 69 who were witnesses against him, as well as against their family members and school officials on Staten Island, according to the SCI.Some of the accusations were so serious they were investigated by the NYPD’s Special Victims Squad. All were determined to be unfounded. Burke, 27, was unmasked when an investigator looking into the original case against him realized that one of the “anonymous” calls was made from Burke’s phone.
DNA Info: Teacher Accused of Abuse Made False Claims Against Coworkers, Report Says (Jan 22 2014) A Staten Island teacher accused of "inappropriate behavior" against an autistic student went on a campaign of falsely claiming coworkers carried out similar abuse, a report by the schools Special Commissioner of Investigation said. James Burke, 27, who worked at P.S. 69, made numerous false claims of violence and abuse by other teachers and paraprofessionals in his school and others, a report released Tuesday said."Many of the allegations described conduct which was similar to the conduct Burke committed in the prior substantiated SCI case, including tickling and other inappropriate touching of students," Special Commissioner Richard Condon said in the report. The report said that Burke, who was listed as a third grade teacher on P.S. 69's website, also falsely told officials at St. John's Villa Academy that he saw the 14-year-old daughter of a witness against him dealing drugs on school property. Investigators were able to pin the calls on Burke after they saw a number listed as his was used to make at least one of the 13 false claims, the report said.
A couple notes from the report of Special Commissioner Richard J. Condon: 1. Resignation effective March 31 2014: The DOE brought disciplinary charges against Burke; to settle the matter, Burke agreed to resign irrevocably effective March 31, 2014. SCI was not a party to the settlement. 2. List of incidents of false reports allegedly lodged by James Burke: It contacted SCI on July 26, 2013, the day when a false allegation against a PS 69 teacher was called in; It contacted SCI on August 5, 2013, when a false allegation against a PS 58 paraprofessional was called in; It contacted SCI in August 15, 2013, when a false allegation against a PS 58 paraprofessional – really a PS 69 teacher – was called in; It contacted SCI on August 29, 2013, when a false allegation against a PS 69 dean was called in; It contacted SCI on September 12, 2013, when a false allegation against a PS 69 teacher was called in; It contacted SCI on September 18, 2013, when a false allegation against a PS 69 teacher was called in; It contacted SCI on September 30, 2013, when a false allegation against a PS 69 paraprofessional was called in; It contacted Tottenville High School on October 2, 2013, when a false allegation against a teacher was called in to the school; It contacted SCI on October 3, 2013, when a false allegation against a Tottenville High School teacher was called in; It contacted Staten Island Technical High School on October 3, 2013, when a false allegation against a paraprofessional was called in to the school; It contacted SCI on October 10, 2013, when a false allegation against a Mark Twain Intermediate School for the Gifted and Talented teacher was called in; It contacted St. John Villa on October 2, 2013, when a false allegation against Student I was called in to the school; and It contacted St. John Villa on October 3, 2013, when a false allegation against Student I was called in to the school. Screen prints of the entire report are below:
Village Voice: Staten Island Teacher James Burke, Accused of Student Abuse, Retaliated With False Accusations, Investigation Finds (Jan 22 2014) Here's a study in bad decision-making: James Burke, a 27-year-old Staten Island teacher who was found to have inappropriately touched an eight-year-old autistic student retaliated against everyone who blew the whistle on him, as well as their family members, by accusing them of molestation. That's according to a new report from the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District (SCI), who have also referred Burke's case to the Staten Island District Attorney for possible criminal charges.Burke worked at P.S. 69 in Staten Island's New Springville neighborhood (their website still lists him as a third-grade teacher there.) In May of 2013, a dean at the school filed a complaint against him, saying that he'd inappropriately touched and tickled the eight-year-old autistic boy, as well as other students. Burke declined to be interviewed by the SCI investigators, who nonetheless say they found the allegations to be true and reassigned him.At that point, Burke apparently decided it was time for payback....