Burlington school aide Daniel Powers faces the rest of his life in prison for the alleged sexual assault of several 5th-grade girls at Dyer Elementary School.
Powers was arrested last month after a student told her mother he touched her inappropriately. Investigators interviewed three students and were scheduling forensic interviews with additional students. Powers was charged on April 28 with three felony counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child. He was charged Thursday with six additional felony counts of first-degree repeated sexual assault of a child and one felony count of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. Each of the repeat sexual assault counts carries a sentence of 40 years in prison and $100,000 in fines, and the charge of sexual assault of a child under 13 carries a sentence of 60 years in prison.
Forensic interviews reveal sexual assault
According to the criminal complaint, seven additional students, one of whom is in 3rd grade, described to investigators how Powers would touch them both over and under their clothes and hug them in ways that made them uncomfortable. One student detailed Powers touching her breast under her bra and laughing at her while he did it, and another said she was held in from recess because another teacher overheard her describe Powers as “creepy,” and the teacher thought the girl was being disrespectful. They also said Powers would visit the girls’ bathroom and stand between the stalls and the sinks.
Powers was assigned both a $20,000 cash bond and a $50,000 signature bond and ordered on house arrest with GPS monitoring should he post bail. He will next be in court on May 25 for his preliminary hearing.
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