Nicholas Speller, School Gym Teacher, Charged With Indecent Assault, Battery On Minor

A Massachusetts elementary school teacher was arrested for assault and battery on a minor student Wednesday.

Nicholas Speller, 31, who works at Patrick J. Kennedy Elementary School in East Boston, Massachusetts, as a gym instructor, was arrested around 4:30 p.m. EDT and was charged with indecent assault and battery on a 14-year-old student.

The Boston Police Department (BPD) said a press release regarding the incident: “…officers from District A-7 (East Boston) responded to a call for a report of an indecent assault and battery at 343 Saratoga Street (Kennedy Elementary School) in East Boston. On arrival, officers arrested Nicholas Speller, 31, of Malden…”

Speller was put on administrative leave following his arrest. Details of the crime that he has been accused of has not been released and are under investigation.

The parents of the school students were forwarded an automated call from the officials, informing them of Speller’s arrest.

"This incident allegedly involved misconduct by a staff member in our school. We immediately contacted the Boston Police Department and Boston School Police as soon as we learned about it,” the call said, NBC owned NECN reported.

“Please know the safety of our students is always a top priority of the Boston Public Schools and at the P.J. Kennedy,” it added. “Please know that we are firmly committed to providing a safe and welcoming climate for all of our students — and we are here to support you and your child.”

A Boston Public Schools official also said authorities have communicated with parents of students who have been directly affected by the incident and will be providing counseling if needed.

Speller is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in East Boston District Court. It is not clear if he has appointed a lawyer.

The BPD has encouraged people with any information regarding the incident which led to Speller’s arrest to contact the Boston Police Crimes Against Children Unit at (617) 343-6183. They can also assist anonymously by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

Earlier this month, Mary Jahn, 52, an English teacher at Lakewood High School, California, was charged with nine felony charges after a former student of the court claimed before the court that she was sexually harassed by the accused.

The 24-year-old accuser said Jahn had performed sexual acts such as bondage, flogging, and pouring hot wax on her when the former was 15 years old and the abuse continued for four years. Jahn was arrested on Sept. 13, 2017. At the time she was charged with four counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, three counts of lewd acts upon a child and two counts of oral copulation of a minor.

She will become a registered sex offender if convicted and also may be sentenced up to eight years and four months in state prison.