{"id":326239,"date":"2026-08-20T23:30:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T23:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/326239\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T23:30:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T23:30:28","slug":"nyc-charter-school-principal-accused-of-sexually-abusing-at-least-2-students-da","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/326239\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC charter school principal accused of sexually abusing at least 2 students: DA"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Manhattan charter school principal is charged with sexually abusing at least two students, including a 12-year-old girl \u2014 and is walking free without bail, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

Eric Cato \u2013 who worked at KIPP Washington Heights Middle School on Jumel Place in Upper Manhattan \u2013 allegedly targeted the children between October of 2024 and March of 2026, according to an indictment filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

He is accused of exposing two kids to \u201csexual contact,\u201d the court document said. The NYPD said one of the victims was only 12 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"EricEric Cato, 37, is accused of inappropriate contact with at least two students at KIPP Washington Heights Middle School. NYPD<\/p>\n

Cato is also charged with endangering the welfare of a third child between August and December of 2025, the court document said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The accused principal \u2013 who was arrested on Aug. 12 \u2013 pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was released on his own recognizance, online court records show.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether prosecutors asked for bail. The Manhattan DA\u2019s Office didn\u2019t immediately comment.<\/p>\n

Cato has since been dismissed from his role at the charter school, according to a spokesperson for KIPPS NYC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take these allegations very seriously and understand how deeply alarming this news is for our school community,\u201d the representative said. \u201cThis individual is no longer at the school, and we remain focused on protecting student privacy and maintaining a safe and supportive environment for KIPP families and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KIPPCato is no longer employed by the charter school, a spokesperson said. Google Maps<\/p>\n

Daniris Rodriguez, the mother of a 13-year-old girl allegedly groomed by Cato, told NY1<\/a> she wants \u201caccountability\u201d and \u201cjustice\u201d for her daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was devastated because my daughter has been going to KIPP for years, and when you take your kids to school, you\u2019re leaving them where trustworthy people are,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cThat was not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez told the network her daughter decided to come forward because she believed she wasn\u2019t the only one subjected to the perverted behavior.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of her for speaking up and being a voice for the kids who don\u2019t have a voice, that were shy, that were afraid, that were scared to even tell their parents,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both the Manhattan DA\u2019s Office and the NYPD have encouraged other potential victims to come forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs alleged, this principal abused his position to sexually abuse middle schoolers he was entrusted to mentor and keep safe,\u201d DA Alvin Bragg said in a statement. \u201cWe are continuing to investigate alongside the NYPD.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge anyone with information to contact our Child Abuse Bureau at 212-335-4300. Our specially trained prosecutors and counselors can speak with children in a sensitive manner in a child-friendly space.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Victims are also encouraged to call the NYPD\u2019s Sex Crimes Hotline at 1-212-267-7273, the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Manhattan charter school principal is charged with sexually abusing at least two students, including a 12-year-old girl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[303,75,84,83,57,32205,9,24,63,3636,5271,5474,2585,58],"class_list":["post-326239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-crime","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-metro","tag-middle-schools","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-principals","tag-schools","tag-sexual-abuse","tag-students","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}