Flushing Educator Cuffed For Attack
A substitute teacher at P.S. 22 in Flushing has been arraigned on charges of assaulting a six-year-old female student last Wednesday, Mar. 7.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Grace Peterson-Hagendorf, 59, of 168th Street in Flushing. She was arraigned last Thursday, Mar. 8, before Queens Criminal Court Judge Stephanie Zaro on a criminal complaint charging her with second- and third-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree harassment.
Peterson-Hagendorf, who faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, was released on her own recognizance and ordered to return to court on Apr. 2.
“Schools are meant to be safe learning environments for their students,” Brown said. “It is therefore difficult to comprehend that a teacher could lose all self-control and physically attack a young student in front of a room full of her friends and classmates. If the allegations prove true, the defendant must accept responsibility for her actions.”
According to the charges, a teacher at P.S. 22 left her classroom at approximately 8:05 a.m. last Wednesday to attend a meeting and that substitute teacher Peterson-Hagendorf took her place in the classroom.
When the teacher returned to the classroom at approximately 9:55 a.m. that day, it is alleged that one of her students-a six-year-old girl-immediately approached her while crying and holding her neck. The child claimed that Peterson-Hagendorf had pushed her from behind and, grabbing her neck, pinched and twisted it, causing substantial pain, redness, swelling and a large welt to her neck.
P.S. 22 (the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School) is located at 153- 33 Sanford Ave.
The child was taken to a local Queens hospital where she received medical attention for her injuries.
Peterson-Hagendorf was arrested later that morning by police officers assigned to the 109th Precinct.
It was noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
