WOLCOTT — Police have arrested a physical education teacher from Wolcott High School and charged him with sexual assault.
Wolcott Police Department arrested Michael Forgione, 49, of Plantsville and charged him with sexual assault in the fourth degree, risk of injury to a minor and breach of peace in the second degree.
“This past May the Wolcott Police Dept. had received a complaint against Forgione, who is a Physical Ed teacher employed at Wolcott High School. The complaint was made by a Wolcott High School student,” police said in a release. “Once the complaint was received, Forgione was immediately suspended with pay, thus having no contact with any students while the investigation was being conducted.”
Police added that once the investigation was concluded, the Wolcott Police Department presented the case to the Waterbury States Attorneys Office for review.
“It was determined that probable cause did exist, and an arrest warrant was granted,” police said. Forigone’s Attorney was immediately notified of the warrant, and he had Forgione turn himself in today (9/5/19, the same day the warrant was signed).”
Forigone’s attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, issued a statement regarding the arrest Thursday evening:
Mr. Forgione is innocent of all the baseless charges that have been leveled against him. Mr. Forgione intends to fight all the charges vigorously and looks forward to being vindicated at the end of what we anticipate will be a long and painful process.
Mr. Forgione cooperated fully with the investigation, meeting with both the Wolcott Police and the Department of Children and Families. Mr. Forgione was cleared of any wrongdoing by DCF as the allegations against him were unsubstantiated. We are shocked and deeply disappointed that the Waterbury States Attorney’s office elected to pursue these baseless and uncorroborated allegations. Despite dozens of people being present when this alleged incident occurred, no one saw anything. No one saw anything because nothing happened.
Mr. Forgione has been a teacher and coach for over 20 years and has never been accused of any misconduct. It is truly a tragedy that a man’s career and livelihood can
Police Forgione was released after posting a$10,000 bond and will appear in Waterbury Superior Court on September 12.
