Teacher charged with sex abuse — again

The elementary school teacher already accused of a sex crime now faces charges in two counties.

Daniel Rothbard, 28, of Merrick, was arrested Sept. 3 for allegedly forcing a 13-year-old girl from Suffolk County to engage in oral sex in his Meadowbrook Avenue home on July 7, authorities said. Police learned of the encounter in the wake of Rothbard’s July 21 arrest in Suffolk County, in which he was charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in the parking lot of Westbrook Elementary School in West Islip after meeting her on MySpace. Believing there may have been more victims, authorities are investigating Rothbard’s online life.

“From that investigation, Suffolk County identified a 13-year-old potential victim who was introduced to the Nassau County Police Department Child Abuse Section a week later, on July 28,” said Detective Lt. John Allen, an NCPD spokesman. “She did disclose engaging in a sex act with him.”

Rothbard, a math teacher in Valley Stream District 13 for the past four years and a former employee of Rolling River Day Camp in East Rockaway for 16 years, reportedly met the 13-year-old by posing as a 17-year-old on MySpace. He arranged to meet with her and a friend in Suffolk County, then drove them to his house, Allen said.

According to Eric Phillips, a spokesman for the Nassau County district attorney’s office, Rothbard brought one girl upstairs, took his clothes off and forced her to engage in oral sex with him. They were interrupted by the victim’s 13-year-old friend, and Rothbard reportedly exposed himself to her as well.

He was charged with performing a criminal sexual act, a class D felony, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor. He was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Sept. 3 and held on $500,000 cash bail.

He faces up to seven years in prison for the felony and one year for each misdemeanor, according to Detective Sgt. Anthony Repalone. Rothbard also faces the loss of his teacher’s license. Section 10.55 of New York State Education Law empowers the commissioner of education to revoke the certificate of a teacher convicted of a sex crime.