Former Principal Charged With Child Endangerment In Union County

RAHWAY, NJ — A now-former elementary school principal in the Rahway Public Schools District is charged with child endangerment, according to court records.

Dr. Dion Patterson, 44 of Fanwood, was the principal of Madison Elementary School and had recently resigned, according to a letter from Board of Education President Joseph Toma and Superintendent Aleya Shoieb.

Patterson is no longer employed, Shoieb and Toma confirmed, but were unable to comment on other personnel matters by law.

"We would like to assure the community that the charges do not involve any students of the Rahway Public School District and are unrelated to any incidents or events involving the District," the letter added.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, on Jan. 6, the Union County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit was notified by Fanwood Police of a report made to a school nurse.

The account detailed that a girl was strangled on Jan. 4 in Fanwood.

She had been folding clothes when her friends called to talk. The girl then told them that she couldn't talk at the moment and hung up.

Her friends then called back, and Patterson was said to have come into the room to yell at her for being on the phone. She gave him her phone, but continued speaking through her headphones.

Patterson allegedly came back into the room, yelled at her, and hit her on her buttocks with a belt.

He then allegedly dragged the child off a bed when she then hit her head on the ground. The court documents state Patterson then knelt next to her and placed both hands around her neck while starting to choke her.

The girl tried to signal a "thumbs up" to make him stop.

This is the first time the girl had been choked, she said, but not the first time she had been physically disciplined.

The girl was taken to the hospital after she said her throat still hurt while giving a statement about the situation to the Child Advocacy Center.

"Dr. Patterson maintains his innocence regarding the charge filed against him," his attorney, Brett Rosen, said. "We look forward to clearing his name."

In a letter shared with Patch by a member of the Rahway schools community, Shoieb confirmed on Thursday that Dr. Doris Jones will continue to serve as Assistant Principal with support from district administration for the time being.

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