Chatsworth, NJ teacher charged with sexual assault of 7 more children

🚨 Student came forward accusing elementary school teacher

🚨 The abuse happened in classrooms, prosecutors said

🚨 Teacher is free pending trial

WOODLAND — An elementary school teacher in Burlington County has been indicted for the sexual assault of 14 male students, according to authorities.

Vincent Root, 59, of Philadelphia was indicted by a grand jury on 14 counts of second-degree sexual assault and 14 counts of second-degree child endangerment, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

Root, a special education teacher at Chatsworth Elementary, was first charged last October after one student came forward the month before, prosecutors said. At the time, investigators said they documented seven victims.

On Friday, prosecutors said that another seven victims have accused Root of sexual abuse.

Only around 100 students are enrolled at the K-8 school, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. There were 14 teachers working at the school during the 2022-2023 school year.

According to authorities, all of the victims were enrolled male students and the abuse happened inside the school's classrooms. The assaults occurred over a period of several years, prosecutors said.

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Root has been banned from school grounds and placed on administration leave from his job where he made a salary of over $82,000.

He has been released pending trial after pleading not guilty earlier this month.

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