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Michael Luecke, 72, of Stamford, was accused of masturbating in the hallway Wednesday at Westhill High School in Stamford, police said. He was arrested on charges of public indecency, second-degree breach of peace and risk of injury to a minor after the incident Wednesday, Stamford police said.
"Many of you may have seen media reports about the arrest of a substitute teacher, Mr. Michael Luecke, who has been working in a number of local school districts, including Greenwich," Greenwich Public Schools Director of Human Resources Bob Lichtenfeld said in a statement.
"Mr. Luecke was arrested in Stamford for inappropriate behavior in another school district," Lichtenfield said. "The behavior did not involve student contact."
He confirmed that Luecke has been used as a substitute teacher at the "secondary level in the Greenwich Public Schools as recently as this past semester."
Lichtenfield said substitute teachers undergo the same hiring scrutiny regular teachers. Those procedures include fingerprinting, a review of any past criminal activity, reference checks, and a Google search.
"In addition, we supervise our staff closely, and peer-to-peer observations also are strong," he said. "We have no evidence of inappropriate behavior by Mr. Luecke while he was a substitute in our schools.
"Rest assured that Mr. Luecke will no longer work in the Greenwich Public Schools in any capacity."
Luecke had worked in Stamford since 2009 after undergoing an extensive interviewing process and background check, a school official said.
“Just like with teachers, any substitute who applies has to fill out an application,” Stamford Public Schools spokeswoman Sharon Beadle said. With that application comes reference checks, an in-person interview, a check of the sex predator website, fingerprinting analysis for any previous local, state or federal crimes and a check with the Department of Children and Families, she said.
“This is the first complaint [about Lueke] we’ve gotten,” Beadle said. If anything had come up in his background check, the school system would not have hired him in the first place, she said.
Luecke posted $10,000 bond Thursday and was put on 24-hour house arrest and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.
Police and the school districts were continuing to investigate the incident. Read more about his arrest here and here at the Daily Voice.
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