ITHACA, N.Y. — A Cayuga Heights teacher is on administrative leave following accusations that he demonstrated sexually explicit acts and had inappropriate sexual conversations with an 11-year-old boy on multiple occasions.

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Ryan R. Harrington, 36, is charged with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child. He’s accused of showing an 11-year-old boy how to perform sex acts as well as having conversations with the boy about sexually explicit content matter.

Related — Lansing records: Firefighter, teacher accused of sexually explicit acts with boy

According to Robert VanKeuren, director of human resources at the Ithaca City School District, Harrington is employed by the district and currently on administrative leave.  VanKeuren released the following statement:

“The school district is aware of the allegations and is actively investigating them. This is a confidential personnel matter. The employee has been on administrative leave. We have no further comments.”

According to the Ithaca City School District website, Harrington is employed as a teacher at the Cayuga Heights Elementary School. Officials have not verified whether the website is up-to-date.

An official at the Cayuga Height Fire Department confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Harrington is a firefighter with the department.

The following statement was released:

“The allegations that have been made against a member of the Cayuga Heights Fire Department do not in any way involve his service with the department. However, until this case is resolved, he has agreed not to participate in any department activities.”

Contact reporter Jolene Almendarez anytime: 907-854-3248 | Email | Twitter | Facebook

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Featured photo by Brian Turner of Flickr. 

Jolene Almendarez is Managing Editor at The Ithaca Voice. She can be reached at jalmendarez@ithacavoice.com; you can learn more about her at the links in the top right of this box.