SALEM — A former gym teacher at Saltonstall School was arrested Wednesday night on charges that he allegedly assaulted 10 female students at the school between 2015 and 2018, officials said Thursday.
Daniel Hakim, 36, of North Andover faces 32 counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a minor under the age of 14. At his arraignment in Essex County Superior Court Thursday, Hakim pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $200,000 cash bail, court records show.
Although Hakim was fired from the school in 2018 for reports of misconduct, an investigation conducted by Salem Police, the state Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education found the claims to be “not prosecutable,” said Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and Superintendent Steve Zrike in a joint statement.
In December 2021, Hakim was charged with seven counts of aggravated and indecent assault and battery of a minor younger than 14 when a Saltonstall student told her parents about an incident of improper conduct from 2016. The charges prompted additional students to volunteer information about Hakim’s misconduct.
Hakim’s arrest was the culmination of a six-month investigation by Salem police and the Essex district attorney’s office that was launched in the wake of his initial arrest late last year. Court records show in that case he was released on personal recognizance following an arraignment in Salem District Court.
Hakim was subsequently indicted on the new charges by a grand jury Wednesday.
Driscoll, Miller, and Zrike condemned Hakim’s actions.
“As community leaders and, most importantly, as parents, we are sickened by the abuse from a trusted adult that these children were subjected to and the ongoing pain and trauma these young survivors and their families are and will continue to face. The actions for which Daniel Hakim has been arrested and charged are abominations,” they said.
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
