http://tinyurl.com/335mzq

Massage scandal sinks S.I. educator

(Staten Island, New York)

BY ETHAN ROUEN and CARRIE MELAGO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, December 12th 2007, 4:00 AM

An assistant principal received numerous massages from a 12-year-old student, then offered to pay for the girl's private school tuition as hush money, school investigators said Tuesday.

Lawrence Siegel, 56, accepted rubdowns from the child inside his office at Intermediate School 72 on Staten Island, the special schools investigator said in a report.

The situation grew even more bizarre when investigators started asking questions in June, and the child's mother began secretly taping conversations with Siegel in an effort to blackmail him, according to the report by Schools Investigator Richard Condon.

On one of the tapes, Siegel tells the girl over the phone that "somebody squealed on us." He asks her to stick up for him, saying, "If you do this for me, I will take care of you for life," according to the report. He ended the call by saying, "I love you. Let me talk to Mommy."

Siegel, who earned more than $100,000 a year, retired from the New Springville school during the investigation in August. Tuesday, the report was referred to the Staten Island district attorney's office, which will decide if charges should be filed.

The 34-year veteran educator declined comment when reached outside his Morganville, N.J., home.
The probe began after another parent called 311 about the massages. Siegel called the student on June 6 and convinced her to defend him, the report said.

Over the following weeks, the girl's mom met several times with Siegel, asking him to pay $120,000 for tuition to Staten Island Academy. She once even put a recorder under her blouse to tape their conversations, the report said

The student eventually told investigators she began skipping class to hang out in Siegel's office, where he sometimes asked her to massage his shoulders. She said there was no other contact and his door was usually open, the report said.

Siegel maintained his innocence to investigators but acknowledged he used "poor judgment" when he asked the girl to lie because he "panicked."

___________________________________

TJB

-AM