Crime & Safety

Ex-Triton Teachers Get House Arrest, Probation for Student Relationships

'...This incident is going to be the one thing you're remembered for,' a judge tells Jeffrey Logandro and Daniel Michielli, both of Blackwood, as they're sentenced in a Camden courtroom Friday.

Jeffrey Logandro and Daniel Michielli, two former teachers who pleaded guilty to charges surrounding improper relations with students at Triton Regional High School, were sentenced Friday to 30 days of electronically monitored home detention and three years probation.

Both defendants sat silently in court Friday during and after their sentencing for third-degree conspiracy to commit official misconduct. Michelli, 27, of of Blackwood, sat on the left side of a Camden courtroom, alone, staring at the floor, as about a dozen supporters and families of the victims, two teenage girls, sat on the right side. He wore a light tan suit and tan striped tie.

Logandro, sat silently next to his attorney, Len Biddison, staring at a table as Biddison implored Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Brown Jr. to consider his client's "spotless" criminal and professional record and only impose two years of probation.

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Both Logandro or Michelli declined to say anything when the judge asked them if they had a statement. Then Brown spoke.

"The relationship between a student and a teacher is sacred," he said. "You have violated that trust. For all the good that you've done as teachers, this incident is going to be the one thing you're remembered for."

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Brown also cited a statement from Logandro's victim, read by Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Mark Chase, as summing up the keys to the case.

"Her reputation, integrity, self-respect and image have all been compromised by her teacher who we all knew so well and loved," Chase said. "Looking back now, I can see why she never wanted to get up and go to school during her senior year. Now I know how she spent her senior year in high school, being afraid of you, your actions toward her and the pressure from you to keep your secret."

Logandro and Michielli walked out of the courtroom 15 minutes after the proceedings, uncuffed, accompanied by a sheriff's deputy. They walked down a long hallway to the elevator and refused to comment when asked questions about how they felt and why they got involved sexually with students.

Triton has dealt with the fallout of the scandal since it came to light in October 2012. Logandro, Michielli and gym teacher Nicholas Martinelli were accused of varying sexual encounters with students. Principal Catherine DePaul and vice principal Jernee Kollock were accused of covering up the crimes.

All three teachers and DePaul have already pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the case. Martinelli was the latest. He admitted in court Thursday to hindering an investigation into his alleged improper relationship with a student, and immediately resigned his position.

Charges against Kollock are pending.

The three students involved in the case, whose identities haven't been released, filed a tort notice announcing their intention to potentially sue the school district over the matter. All of the teens graduated from Triton in 2012.

For past coverage of the Triton Teacher-Student Sex Scandal, see: 


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