PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (WPRI) — A Providence teacher accused of sexually assaulting a woman when she was a teenager was arraigned on new charges.
The Providence County Grand Jury handed up an indictment last month charging Joseph Gannon of Warwick with four counts of first-degree sexual assault, alleging that he assaulted the victim in both Providence and Warwick between June 2019 and June 2020.
Previously, the 50-year-old was charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of producing child pornography.
Gannon’s attorney, Albert Medici, entered a plea of not guilty on Gannon’s behalf in Providence Superior Court.
At a bail hearing last year, the victim, now an adult, told Judge Debra Saunders she was a 15-year-old high school freshman when she and Gannon — her former middle school science teacher — allegedly began a sexual relationship that would last three years.
“We are taught at an early age to listen to our teachers, that teachers are ready to teach us,” Saunders said in December. “Mr. Gannon taught [the victim] about sex.”
In December, Saunders ordered him to remain held without bail, saying she believed a jury could conclude that Gannon had groomed the victim for sex.
“I find that releasing Mr. Gannon on bail would pose a danger to the community, the community that he was charged to serve as a teacher of children,” Saunders said, adding that she was not convinced Gannon’s local ties would be enough to ensure his return to court.
After the Superior Court judge ordered him to remain held without bail, Gannon was immediately sent back to the Adult Correctional Institutions, where he has been since his initial arraignment at Providence District Court on Sep. 23.
Gannon will have a renewed chance to be released at a bail hearing scheduled for next month.
Gannon was suspended without pay from his teaching job as of Oct. 16, 2024. According to Providence Public Schools spokesperson Jay Wegimont, Gannon’s status with the district remains unchanged.
By ALEXANDRA LESLIE/WPRI 12
