Retired Auburn music teacher, Stephen Jaszek, right, during his 2018 arraignment in Worcester Superior Court. His attorney, Peter Pasciucco, is on the left. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP)
0
0
WORCESTER – The former Auburn elementary school music teacher who was accused of repeatedly raping one of his students over a decade ago was found guilty of all charges today.
According to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office, Stephen Jaszek, 66, of South Hadley, was found guilty of two counts of aggravated rape of a child by a mandated reporter, two counts of aggravated rape of a child and one count of aggravated rape of a child under the age of 14 by a mandated reporter.
Superior Court Judge William Ritter found Jaszek guilty after a three-day jury-waived trial that began Monday. The district attorney’s office said the rapes took place between 2009 and 2010 when the victim was in the fifth grade at the Julia Bancroft Elementary School in Auburn.
More: Trial of former Auburn elementary music teacher accused of raping student kicks off in Worcester
The victim, now 23, testified that Jaszek, who was her band teacher at the time, raped her multiple times at his desk which was behind a partition. He did this by requiring her to stay with him to practice the trumpet during recess.
Det. James Lyman Jr. of the Auburn Police Department, who worked on the case, testified Tuesday that other victims of Jaszek did come forward, however “none of them went to grand jury.”
Jaszek’s attorney, Kenneth Anderson, argued the victim lacked credibility because of known mental health issues that include continued self-harm that preceded the alleged sexual abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as “derealization” and “flashbacks,” two disorders that make it hard for her to parse out what’s real and what’s not.
More: Alleged rape victim of former Auburn elementary music teacher takes the stand again Tuesday
On Tuesday, Anderson filed a motion to dismiss the case based on the victim’s faulty perceptions, recollections, a lack of physical evidence, and collaborating witnesses.
Ritter denied the motion.
Jaszek is going to be sentenced on May 20 in Worcester Superior Court.
