Elementary School Teacher Jared Anzelone Accused Of Indecent Exposure To Minor

A Massachusetts elementary school teacher was arrested after he was accused of indecently exposing himself to a minor in a Walmart bathroom on Monday.

"A faculty member was arrested and charged with actions that are unbecoming of a teacher today in Bellingham, Massachusetts," Milford schools Superintendent Kevin McIntyre said, NBC Boston reported. "These accusations and charges are very concerning. Our number one priority is the safety and well-being of the students in our care."

According to Milford District Court records, after masturbating in a bathroom stall in a Walmart outlet, Jared Anzelone, 40, of 390 Hartford Avenue, Bellingham, Massachusetts, bent down to expose himself to an unidentified juvenile in an adjacent cubicle, between 5:40 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT.

The accused is a fourth grade teacher at Woodland Elementary School in Bellingham. He had been employed by the district for 11 years and currently teaches a class of approximately 20 students.

The boy reported the incident to the assistant store manager of Walmart, describing the perpetrator as someone who was wearing dark dress pants and fake leather-pointed dress shoes. He also added there was only one other man in the restroom when he was using it, ABC affiliate WCVB reported.

The police was alerted, who then proceeded to obtain a photo of Anzelone from a surveillance footage that showed him leaving the store, wearing an attire similar to what the victim described.

Anzelone’s picture was uploaded on Bellingham police’s website with a message by the department asking the public’s help to identify the perpetrator.

A number of teachers in the towns of Milford and Uxbridge, Massachusetts, stepped forward to identify the man in the photo as Anzelone.

On Wednesday, Anzelone got in contact with the Bellingham police himself, saying he had been receiving calls from teachers who were asking him about the Facebook post. He claimed he did not know why the police would put up his picture on their social media page or why they were searching for him.

Anzelone was charged with open and gross lewdness, indecent exposure, accost/annoy another person and lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct.

He was arraigned Wednesday after a plea of not guilty was registered before court. Anzelone was released without bail and was warned by the judge to keep his distance from individuals below the age of 18. This was despite the fact that the prosecutors sought to impose a $2,000 cash bail and require Anzelone to wear a GPS-monitoring device.

David Albert, Anzelone’s lawyer, said his client was “in total shock,” over what was happening and all the latter knew was he had used the bathroom at Walmart for 20 minutes.

Anzelone has been placed on paid administrative leave, pending further investigation. McIntyre added the school district officials were working with both local law enforcement and the Department of Children and Families to get to the bottom of what happened, saying Anzelone has never been accused of wrong doing before.