QUINCY, MASS. (WHDH) - A Cohasset Middle School teacher who has been on leave since pleading not guilty in September to two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 was arraigned Wednesday on five more counts.
Jeffrey Knight, 57, of Pembroke, pleaded not guilty in Quincy District Court to five new charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 stemming from alleged incidents involving a recently identified second victim.
The new charges are based on information gathered by investigators from the Cohasset Police Department and the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.
The former eighth-grade science teacher assaulted a female student during class in 2015, police said. The alleged victim came forward after Knight was charged in September with indecently assaulting another female student in 2017 and 2018.
“It happened in class. That is true,” prosecutor Emily Nesson told the court. “It happened while the class was in session. It happened in such a way that while the defendant was instructing the class he was also simultaneously rubbing up against the student multiple times.”
Knight was released on personal recognizance.
Cohasset Superintendent Louise Demas released a statement, saying she is “shocked” and “disturbed by the allegations against Knight.
“I am shocked and profoundly disturbed by the allegations against Knight, who was employed in Cohasset since 2011,” Superintendent Louise Demas said. “I have held a public forum with the community and have committed myself and all Cohasset Public Schools administrators to being responsive to all faculty, staff, student and family concerns regarding this matter. The school district also recently convened a family-faculty Safe Schools Committee. We are at the beginning of a long process that will not be completed until all parties have all the relevant answers.”
“We have made resources available and have added counselors at the middle and high schools to assist students with questions or concerns,” Demas added. “I emphatically support any student who comes forward, and it is my sincere hope that any member of our school community feels comfortable reporting something that they feel is not right.”
Knight has since resigned from his job.
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