Teacher arrested for inappropriate touching

GUILDERLAND — A Guilderland resident and Albany School District teacher was arrested for third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors.

Wendy Daignault, 38, of Vaughn Drive in Guilderland, is accused of inappropriately touching a 14-year-old-girl in July. The girl, according to Guilderland Police Captain Curtis Cox, was not a student at Thomas O’Brien Academy of Science and Technology, where Daignault has worked as a special-education teacher since 1998.

Cox said it took some time for the victim to inform her parents of the situation, at which point the family came forward to the police. Inappropriate touching means putting the hands on intimate body parts, including the buttocks, he said. The alleged incident took place in a private Guilderland home, said Cox.

Wendy Daignault has been placed on paid leave from her teaching job; she appeared in Guilderland Town Court on March 18, and had an order of protection issued against her. She will be back in court on March 25 to face the two misdemeanor charges.

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