PALO ALTO – A physical education teacher has been charged with the aggravated sexual assault of a Palo Alto middle school student more than 20 years ago, police said.
Detectives launched an investigation earlier this year after Palo Alto Unified School District administrators said they had received an email reporting that a current physical education teacher at Greene Middle School had sexually assaulted an 11-year-old student in 2001, the Palo Alto Police Department said in a news release Wednesday.
The teacher, identified as 55-year-old Redwood City resident Michael Colombo, was placed on administrative leave while detectives conducted the investigation, police said.
The investigation revealed that the female victim had been sexually assaulted by her physical education teacher in the locker room at Jordan Middle School, which is now known as Greene Middle School, police said. The alleged assault occurred during the lunch hour.
Detectives presented the investigation to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, which filed one felony charge of aggravated sexual assault against Colombo on Monday.
A warrant was issued for Colombo’s arrest and he self-surrendered Wednesday at the police department.
Police said they were not aware of any additional victims.
Anyone with information related to the case can contact police at 650-329-2413. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call or text 650-383-8984 or email paloalto@tipnow.org.
Source: www.mercurynews.com