Crime & Safety
Feds Search Of School After Janitor’s Sex Assault Charge Sparks Ire
Students were put under a shelter-in-place while police and the FBI searched for hidden cameras, officials said.
WANAQUE, NJ — Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched a Passaic County high school after a former custodian was charged with sexually assaulting a teenager, sending the school into a shelter-in-place.
Officials arrested Scott Volpe of Ringwood, who recently worked at Lakeland Regional High School, last Wednesday on charges including aggravated sexual assault and manufacturing child pornography.
Volpe, 39, is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl at a home in West Milford earlier this year and trying to hide evidence of his conversations with her. Records show he is still being held in the Bergen County Jail.
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Some parents and community members are calling for the removal of the district superintendent, Hugh Beattie, as they say they have "deep concerns about the administration's handling of the situation."
On Friday, law enforcement swept the Lakeland Regional High School buildings for hidden cameras while students were in class, according to parents and media reports. Families were not notified of the search until two hours later, according to a Change.org petition started by parent Daryen De Vito.
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"This lack of timely, responsible communication is unacceptable," the petition states. Close to 200 people had signed it as of Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.
De Vito told News12 that the investigation and search were both traumatizing for students: "Once when the children found out that there was a predator among them and secondarily again, in lock down not knowing if images of them were being shared," she said.
Volpe also faces charges of criminal sexual contact, tampering with physical evidence, hindering apprehension, and child endangerment charges related to the manufacturing and possession of child pornography, said the Passaic County Prosecutor. He is no longer employed by the district, Beattie said last week.
Anyone who may have more information about this case is asked to contact the Prosecutor's Office tips line at 1-877-370-PCPO.
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