NJ elementary school custodian accused of sexually assaulting teen – Asbury Park Press
When someone is arrested and charged with a crime in New Jersey, police departments observe a protocol that includes the reading of Miranda Rights.
The head custodian at Montclair’s Northeast School is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl over a period of two years, according to authorities.
Stephen Yekel, 47, was arrested on Jan. 23, said Kathy Carter, spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Yekel is suspected of “engaging in sex acts with a minor” on a number of dates between October 2016 and October 2018, Carter said. When the alleged sexual assaults began, the victim was 14-years-old and the assaults happened in different locations.
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He is charged with three accounts of sexual assault and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
He is expected to appear in court on Monday in front of Judge Ronald Wigler for a detention hearing.
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Yekel is listed on the Montclair Public Schools website as the head custodian of the Northeast School, which teaches kindergarten through fifth-grade students.
Interim superintendent Nathan Parker said Yekel is no longer working in the district.
Kaitlyn Kanzler covers Essex County for NorthJersey.com.
Email: kanzler@northjersey.com Twitter: @KaitlynKanzler8
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