Full Notification

Suffolk County Police today arrested a Suffolk County Police Department crossing guard for forcibly touching a 15-year-old girl earlier this month.
 
Philip Bonaventura, a crossing guard assigned to the Allegheny Avenue Elementary School, met a 15-year-old female who was walking to pick up a younger sibling. Bonaventura was stationed at the intersection of East Hoffman Avenue and South Delaware Avenue in Lindenhurst when he escorted the girl to a nearby building and forcibly touched her approximately two weeks ago.
 
Bonaventura, 78, of 477 New York Avenue, Lindenhurst, has been a crossing guard with the Suffolk County Police Department for the past 12 years and was charged with Forcible Touching and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. He was released on a Field Appearance Ticket and is scheduled to appear at First District Court in Central Islip on Friday, May 24.
 
Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the First Squad at 631-854-8152 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
 
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.