Teacher accused of institutional sexual assault of young students

The 39-year-old East Hanover Elementary School teacher allegedly committed institutional sexual assault of a minor.

State Police revealed that James William Mentzer from Hummelstown was charged after he allegedly harassed his five female students.

His charges included with institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault, and corruption of minors (five counts).

More details on the investigation, which began on February 16th, on our Twitter page. Follow us at AmoMama USA.

Police revealed that Mentzer was a third-grade teacher of the school.

The investigation showed that Mentzer allegedly committed inappropriate behavior with five students on separate occasions. One of the students was eight years old, the other was nine, and the three were all eleven-year-olds.

The reported offenses occurred from September 2017 until February 2018, as indicated by Fox 43.

The criminal complaint revealed that the school officials were the ones who reported the alleged crime to the police.

The complaints showed that Mentzer would request each student to come to his classroom to record videos of them, which he said will be used for an unknown project.

He reportedly used the classroom’s iPad or laptop to record the students. The complaint revealed that he would have them read lines and perform puppet shows for him.

At one instance, he tried to hypnotize a student by waving a necklace in front of her back and forth.

The criminal complaint also revealed that two victims had told their parents about Mentzer’s inappropriate conduct. The parents immediately contacted the school.

Aside from harassing the students through inappropriate touching, Mentzer allegedly made the students recite an “oath” and ordered them to call him “Master.” He said it was all part of a “master plan.”

The victims said that he would scold them if they did not obey his requests.

According to the police, the suspect was unable to produce the videos, claiming they did not work.

Recently, the school district released a statement, which read that Mentzer was put on administrative leave while the investigations are on-going.

They clarified that they had contacted the necessary people to give due and legal attention towards the several incidents.

The school district also pointed out that they are prepared to terminate the suspect if the law requires it.