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Glen Head gym teacher ‘vindicated’

Child endangerment charges against Long Beach man dropped

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The case against a Glen Head gym teacher accused of watching pornography in his office has been thrown out, after one of the four students who made the allegations admitted that he lied.

Marc Gann, an attorney for Long Beach resident Aaron Kozlowski, 32, said that prosecutors dropped the child endangerment charges against his client on Sept. 27, after they told a judge that they had insufficient proof.

Gann said that when one of the boys recanted his accusation, the case collapsed. On Wednesday, Nassau District Court Judge Valerie Alexandra threw out the four charges against Kozlowski, including allegations made by a boy who is standing by his claim.

“The D.A.’s office did a thorough investigation and ultimately realized there was nothing here to substantiate the charges and dismissed them — they did the right thing,” Gann said, adding that his client feels vindicated after enduring months of "false" allegations.

“He’s lived with the idea that people are staring at him and are ridiculing him; his life has been on hold for the last eight months,” Gann said.

Kozlowski, a physical education teacher at North Shore Middle School, was arrested on April 12. According to police, Kozlowski was in his office in February when three 12-year-old male students and one 13-year-old male student claimed that they observed him through a partially opened door watching pornography on his computer and fondling himself.

At the time, Kozlowski’s other attorney, Rick Ostrove, told the Herald that the kids had a grudge against his client and made the whole thing up. Gann said that the students did not report the incident until March, and that early on, their stories did not match up.

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