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Stratford Teacher Charged with Sex Assault

On Behalf of | Oct 15, 2015 | Firm News, Sexual Abuse |

Michelle Sulzicki, a teacher at the Chapel Elementary School in Stratford, CT, has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting one of her students. It is alleged that she began sexually assaulting the boy when he was 12. Police sources have indicated that the boy, who is now 15, will undergo testing to determine if he is the father of Ms. Sulzicki’s 5 month old child.

The teacher, 28-year-old Michelle Sulzicki, who taught special education at Chapel Elementary School in Stratford the past four years, surrendered at the town police department Wednesday morning.

Her husband, a music teacher in the Danbury school system, stood beside her with the baby in his arms as Sulzicki was charged with first-degree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, illegal sexual contact with a minor and risk of injury to a minor.

Police said the boy told them he had sex with Sulzicki 20 times, beginning when he was 12. He also told them he believes he is the baby’s father, police said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sulzicki, a slight smile on her face, stood before Superior Court Judge William Holden in state Superior Court in Bridgeport.

Behind her, in the back of the courtroom sat her husband, her parents and her husband’s parents.

“She is as far from a flight risk as anyone I have represented,” Sulzicki’s lawyer, William Westcott, told the judge urging him to allow the teacher to go free on bond.

“She made arrangements to face justice this morning. She has urgent home care needs and she needs to be home,” he argued. Sulzicki is an Oxford resident.

Among those needs is the ability to breast feed her baby, something the judge said could not be provided for in jail.

Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Margaret Kelley urged the judge to keep the bond at the $100,000 set by the police.

Holden kept the bond at $100,000, but allowed Sulzicki to go free after posting 10 percent. He then continued the case for a hearing Nov. 3.

“If you are not there, what will follow will be much more to your disadvantage,” the judge warned.

Police said Sulzicki began having sex with the boy when he was 12 and she was tutoring him at his Stratford home. They said the boy told them that the first time he did not wear a condom and Sulzicki “forced him to have sex with her,” the arrest warrant affidavit states.

Over the next two years the boy said he had sex with Sulzicki up to 20 times, the affidavit states. When confronted, police said Sulzicki admitted she had sex with the boy once when he was 12.

Stratford Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said she was “outraged and appalled” when she was informed by police of the investigation last month. “The moment we were notified of this, the teacher was immediately placed on paid administrative leave. I am in the process of terminating this individual.”

“We have been told by investigators that no impropriety occurred on school property and that this (relationship) happened after school hours,” Robinson said. “Nonetheless, there is zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”

Sulzicki said she “did not charge the family for tutoring” the boy, according to the affidavit.

Sulzicki’s wedding announcement says she is a graduate of Bunnell High School and Central Connecticut State University. She received a master’s degree in special education from Fairfield University.

Source: Stratford Teacher Charged with Sex Assault 

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