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A Waikiki public school teacher is set to go to trial Nov. 21 on five sex assault charges involving a minor.
Michael Wright, 33, a teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, pleaded not guilty on Monday to a charge of first-degree sexual assault of minor under 16 years old; a charge of first-degree sexual assault of minor under 14 years old; and three counts third-degree sex assault with someone under 14 years old. First-degree sex assault involves sexual penetration while third-degree involves sexual contact. The alleged crimes involve one victim over a five-year period from July 2010 to July 2015.
Wright is free on $200,000 bail while he awaits jury trial.
A judge issued an order prohibiting him from having contact with the alleged victim on Sept. 13, the day an Oahu grand jury returned an indictment charging Wright with five counts of sex assault.
The state Department of Education said Wright has been an employee for nine years, and was placed on paid leave after officials learned of his arrest on Sept. 8. The department declined further comment — including whether the victim was one of Wright’s students — citing the ongoing police investigation and saying the issue is a “personnel matter.”
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Correction: Michael Wright is scheduled for trial in November. A previous version of this story said he was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in October.
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Agree
Why do you say that?
Michael Wrights attorney is a pathological liar. He thinks he is “The Truth” and everyone is a liar.
The charges are BS?
Congratulations to the lazy headline writer who just caused a huge problem for Waikiki Elementary School staff and families.
Agree! I was thinking the exact same thing when I read that sloppy headline.
I don’t understand why you have a problem with the headline. Since he is a teacher at the school and is being charged with the rape of a child I think it is important for the public to be aware. If your point is that he hasn’t been convicted therefore they shouldn’t release this information I can understand that since the aligations may not be true.
The problem is Waikiki Elementary is a completely different school. Mr. Wright teaches at Jefferson Elementary school according to the body of the story.
Exactly. A sloppy headline might lead someone to think it involved staff at Waikiki Elem.. Not everyone reads the story and not all who do will catch the facts. There aren’t many male teachers at the elementary level, so a rumor could start about someone completely uninvolved in the situation.
I understand the concern now. I didn’t even know there was a Waikiki Elementary.
agree..sloppy story but we see many of those in the poorly staffed SA.
Innocent until proven guilty!
Not to mention that there is the School for the Deafs and Blinds. Oh, what tragedy and horror happened there not that long ago.
I sure hope this teacher didn’t take advantage of a special needs student. Jefferson Elementary is kind of a “center” for Special Education/orthopedic needs.