BURRILLVILLE – A North Smithfield man who, until recently, worked as teacher at a Catholic kindergarten through 8th grade school, was arrested and charged with five counts of felony 2nd Degree child molestation this week.
Michael Langelier, 57, of North Smithfield was an elementary school teacher at Sacred Heart School in East Providence, before he was recently place on administrative leave.
Langelier was arrested over incidents that reportedly took place in 2011, when he was working as a long-term substitute teacher at A.T. Levy Elementary School in Burrillville.
The arrest follows a complaint by a former student, who told Burrillville officers that Langelier was inappropriate on several occasions while he was filling in for the regular first grade teacher at Levy over the course of months. The alleged acts occurred in Burrillville between the dates of Sept. 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012, and the teacher has reportedly not worked in town since 2014.
Langelier reportedly taught fourth grade at Sacred Heart since he started at the school in 2017.
The complaint was investigated by the Burrillville Police Department and reported to the state Attorney General’s office.
Langelier was arrested on Thursday, March 10 and arraigned in Providence Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $10,000 surety bond.
The Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative offers many online resources for survivors of sexual assault. If you or someone you know has been a victim, contact police and visit https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/2014-09/nsvrc_publications_resource-list_online-resources-for-survivors.pdf
Editor’s note: The above article has been edited from its original version to include more details from the case.
I know this person and I cant even imagine or believe he capable of something like this.
Ruth, I’ve known Mike very for 50 years – he’s like a brother to me – and I agree that there is NO WAY he is capable of something so detestable. Something is VERY wrong here.
BTW, Sandy must have ‘forgotten’ to list some FACTS that were listed in other news article concerning this farce:
– Burrillville Superintendent Dr. Michael Sollitto confirmed to 12 News.
“There were no reports of inappropriate conduct during his time as a substitute teacher here,”
– Most recently, he worked as a fourth grade teacher at Sacred Heart School in East Providence. Michael F. Kieloch, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Providence, told 12 News that Langelier had been employed there since 2017. “The school and diocese are not aware of any allegations of teacher misconduct at Sacred Heart or allegations involving students at Sacred Heart,” he added.
In response to Mr. Calo: I did not reach out to Dr. Sollitto as this occurred well before his time at Burrillville schools. I do know that while whatever occurred may not have been written up as an official complaint, I have seen more than one parent state on social media that they had issues (not specifically of this nature) and/or felt uncomfortable and state that they did complain while the suspect was teaching in Burrillville. Further, my report, above, was a breaking story on the allegations and charges filed by the Attorney General’s office – no more, no less. This does not mean it must repeat any and all statements later published by other news organizations.
Either way, the matter is for the courts to decide – and they will. I understand this individual is your friend, but that does not make the media wrong for reporting the known facts.
Thank you for your response Sandy.
Social media? LOL. Someone always has an axe to grind with a teacher and social media is the perfect place to vent, so not surprising in the least.
Did they leave a real name?
Source please.
No – I’m not going to direct anyone to that anymore than I would put it in the story. The comments were not directed to me or to my website, but were in reaction to the story. My only point in mentioning it is that there are always two sides, which is why these matters are best left to the courts.
Defamation is the oral or written communication of a false statement about another that unjustly harms their reputation and usually constitutes a tort or crime.
This Man Taught me a few years ago and seemed like so much fun which seems wrong now.
What a piece of crap