Posted on: Wednesday, August 4, 2004

Tripler removes school worker

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A man who works at Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary School has been removed from the job following a complaint by a 7-year-old girl that he touched her inappropriately.

Margaret Tippy, spokeswoman for the Tripler Army Medical Center, said the civilian contract worker was removed from the job immediately after Tripler officials learned of the girl's accusations on Thursday.

Tippy said the man was employed by Tripler's Project ASSIST (Augmentation of Special Needs Services and Information to Students and Teachers) program. Tippy said she did not know the specifics of the allegations.

She said parents whose children were part of Project ASSIST programs at Hale Kula or Pearl Harbor Kai elementary schools and who have concerns about the alleged incident should call the project office at Tripler at 433-7372.

Honolulu police detectives and officials from the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are pursuing a joint investigation.