York Public Schools para-educator arrested by York County Sheriff's Department for alleged sexual assault of a child

YORK – A man who was working as a para-educator at York Elementary School (and as former cheer assistant at York High School) has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a child.

Scott Lopez, 28, of York, was taken into custody by the York County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday night, Jan. 23, following an investigation conducted by the sheriff’s department.
Shortly after 1 p.m., on Wednesday, Jan. 24, York Superintendent Mitch Bartholomew issued the following statement about the Lopez arrest and the district’s official response to the situation: "York Public Schools is aware of recent allegations and arrest of one of our employees. This individual is no longer employed at York Public Schools. To our knowledge, all allegations occurred off school property. YPS will continue to work with the York County Sheriff’s office during this investigation.”
Over the noon hour, Wednesday, Bartholomew said he, elementary administration and a YSO investigator met with school staff to inform them of the situation.
Shortly after 1 p.m., Wednesday, Bartholomew and the elementary school administration sent out a letter to parents, regarding the situation.
York County Sheriff Investigator Lt. Alex Hildebrand said the investigation progressed very quickly.
The sheriff’s department was contacted at 1:15 p.m., on Tuesday, Jan. 23, by York Public Schools administrative personnel regarding a situation they were made aware of in which a student alleged to have been inappropriately touched by a York Public Schools employee.
“Working with the school officials, an investigation was immediately conducted into the matter,” Investigator Hildebrand said. “On Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m., Scott M. Velasquez-Lopez was subsequently arrested for two counts of third degree sexual assault of a child. To our knowledge, this incident did not occur at school, on school property or at a school activity. As always our paramount focus is the safety of the children.”
As of this publication time, no county court documents pertaining to the situation were yet available via public court records.
“If you believe your child was involved or have questions regarding contact with the above-mentioned individual, please contact Dr. Bartholomew, Principal Katie Burger or myself, Lt. Hildebrand with the York County Sheriff’s Department,” he added.