By Jack Tobias
A substitute teacher from Upper Saucon who was accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old boy at an Allentown school pleaded no contest to charges Friday in Lehigh County Court and will not serve any jail time, according to online court records.
Michael Agrippine, 48, of 6881 Main St. pleaded no contest to endangering the welfare of a child in a negotiated plea, the online records show. Additional charges, including indecent assault, were withdrawn.
Judge Kelly Banach sentenced him to five years of probation.
A Patch story posted when Agrippine was charged about a year ago said that in 2006, he had been approved as a substitute teacher in the Nazareth Area School District.
"No contest" means a defendant does not admit to the charges or dispute them.
Agrippine proclaimed his innocence and said he regretted taking the plea deal, according to a report on lehighvalleylive.com. The case "fractured my very soul," he said, according to the report. "I'm a good person. I've been a good person my whole life."
The Patch story, posted after Agrippine was charged on Jan. 23, 2013, listed information from the criminal complaint against Agrippine. The complaint included the following:
—On Jan. 21, 2013, the boy was interviewed by a child interview specialist for Lehigh County. The boy, a student at Union Terrace Elementary School at 1939 Union St., said he was sexually assaulted by Agrippine.
—The boy said he was in the bathroom in the basement level hallway near his classroom on Jan. 18, 2013, when Agrippine put him against a wall and held him from behind. The boy told the child interview specialist that Agrippine pulled his pants down and that he felt something penetrate him.
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