Isgan

A Chestnut Ridge Middle School official accused of failing to report suspected child abuse pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts in Bedford County court, bringing an end to the 2-year-old case.

Vice Principal Patrick Nathan Isgan, 39, pleaded no contest to recklessly endangering another person and failure to report or refer. Sentencing has been set for April 1 before President Judge Travis W. Livengood, according to the state Office of the Attorney General.

Isgan initially faced more than 60 charges after an investigation into the school district’s handling of a Nov. 2, 2023, report by a bus contractor that a 12-year-old boy sexually harassed a young girl.

When the charges against Isgan were announced, the Bedford County District Attorney’s Office said Isgan’s failure to report the suspected abuse allowed the boy to sexually assault five additional children.

The investigation began in early February 2024, when state police at Bedford received six ChildLine reports indicating that six juveniles at Chestnut Ridge Middle School were sexually assaulted by a 12-year-old boy.

On Feb. 12, 2024, troopers met with the middle school principal and Isgan at the middle school, where Isgan, a mandated reporter, stated he conducted his own investigation into the Nov. 2, 2023, report that an 8-year-old girl was assaulted by the 12-year-old boy.

Isgan, who provided a timeline of events, told police that he concluded that no sexual assault occurred after he watched the security video and talked to the 8-year-old girl and the 12-year-old boy, as well as a 15-year-old girl who rode the same bus, court documents state.

But in early February 2024, after additional children reported being touched by the boy, Isgan met again with the 12-year-old, who denied the claims.

The boy was removed from a school bus and transported in a school van instead, Isgan told police.

On Feb. 7, 2024, Isgan and the school principal rewatched the Nov. 2, 2023, video and saw what appeared to be the 12-year-old inappropriately touching a younger child, the timeline states.

At that point, Isgan notified ChildLine of the suspected assaults. On Feb. 8, 2024, he made another call to ChildLine with additional information, the affidavit states.

Those reports are what prompted the investigation into Isgan’s and the district’s handling of the allegations when they first came to light in 2023.

At the conclusion of the investigation, which included interviews conducted by the Child Advocacy Center, police said six victims were sexually assaulted by the 12-year-old boy on a school district bus. The sexual assaults included crimes of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault. Court documents state the victims said the sexual assaults were occurring daily between Nov. 2, 2023, and Feb. 5, 2024.

The case against Isgan was prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Office after Bedford County District Attorney Ashlan Clark recused herself because the bus company owner donated to her campaign.

Isgan has been on unpaid leave from the Chestnut Ridge School District pending the case’s resolution.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.