Atlantic City principal charged with failing to report child abuse

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (WPVI) -- The principal of Atlantic City High School has been charged with misconduct and failure to report child abuse.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's office says Constance Days-Chapman did not report allegations of abuse to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

Authorities say on January 22, a juvenile at the high school told a staff member that they had been emotionally and physically abused by their parents.

The student also said they had previously told the principal about the abuse.

Days-Chapman allegedly denied previously knowing about the abuse but told colleagues she would report it to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

Instead, authorities said Days-Chapman went to the home of the student's parents to discuss it with them.

According to court documents, the principal failed to notify the proper welfare authorities "for the purpose to benefit the juvenile's parents by hindering the detection and investigation of the juvenile's parents for child abuse."

Action News talked to Joanne Salvato, whose granddaughter attends Atlantic City High School.

"I'm shocked. I didn't know. They don't go sending a leaflet telling you anything like that," said Salvato.

We tried to reach out to Days-Chapman for comment, but we didn't hear back.

We also didn't hear back from the Atlantic City School District.

DCP&P said due to confidentiality requirements, they cannot confirm if an investigation was ever made on behalf of that student.