Family Stands By Teacher Accused Of Touching Student's Buttocks

MONROEVILLE (KDKA) — Gateway High School science teacher Franklin Vigo left court Monday with his attorney and his entire family by his side.

"His whole family is back here supporting him because they know what kind of man he is. And I know what kind of man he is and we're going to litigate this case aggressively," said attorney David Shrager.

Vigo was held for trial on all charges, including indecent assault and institutional sexual assault.

A student claims Vigo touched her buttocks after she bent over to pick something up, but Vigo's attorney denies the charges.

"This never happened, it never occurred I'm confident in that and I look forward to, we're going to be able to get to the truth of this when we have our trial," Shrager said.

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter

The alleged victim also claims Vigo "hovers around her desk," "stares at her" and she feels he's "trying to look down her shirt."

"Right now, we're in a very scary time. There are teachers who are doing things to students that they should not be doing and they need to be punished for that. My client is not one of those teachers," Shrager said. "He's being caught up in a witch hunt and we're very very nervous this can happen to other teachers."

Whatever happens as the case moves forward, Shrager said Vigo's reputation has already been tarnished.

"Whenever you're accused of a crime like this, two years later when you get shown to be innocent, no one knows about it, it's already damaged his reputation, that's why he's standing here today, he's not afraid of anything, he's not embarrassed of anything, he didn't do anything."