A Falls Township man who works as a teacher in New Jersey has been cleared of sexually assaulting a child.
Robert T. Ciaccia, 45, had charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child dropped Monday after a filing by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the Trentonian reported.
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The allegations of sexual assault by a 9-year-old student of Ciaccia’s were in question from the time the charges were filed and fell apart after a private investigator spoke with teachers, parents and students at the school, the newspaper reported.
“There was insufficient evidence upon which to predicate successful prosecution,” the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday about the case.
Ciaccia’s attorney, Nick C. Travisano, told LevittownNow.com earlier this summer that the accuser was “lying” and said he believed his client was innocent and would be cleared.
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“I believe 100 percent Mr. Ciaccia is innocent,” Travisano said at the time. In addition, he said, the fourth-grade teacher had 20 years of working with a “spotless” record.
“What do you do when a little girl comes in and says that ‘a guy touched me?’” Travisano told the Trentonian on Monday. “The fact that they dismissed the charges as expeditiously as possible is a credit to that office.”
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Ciaccia, who was suspended from his teaching job with the Trenton Board of Education, did spend some time in the Mercer County Correctional Facility and was released a few days after the charges were filed as a judge felt he posed little risk.
Ciaccia lost his role as a wrestling coach with the Pennsbury School District due to the charges, but it was unclear if his position would be offered back now that the charges have been dropped.
