Chester County school director arrested for failing to report child abuse: DA

WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The former director of a Chester County, Pennsylvania private school for young children is facing charges after authorities say she failed to immediately report abuse involving a teacher.

Tiffany Nichols, 39, who was the director of the Malvern School in Westtown, was arrested on December 7 on charges of endangering the welfare of children and failure to report child abuse.

According to the Chester County District Attorney's Office, Victoria Aronson, a teacher at The Malvern School, was arrested in October for allegedly abusing children.

Authorities say the abuse was reported to Nichols on multiple occasions but authorities were not notified in a timely fashion.

SEE ALSO: Former Chester County child care worker accused of assaulting three toddlers

An employee at a private school for young children in Chester County has been arrested and charged with physically assaulting three toddlers.

"As the executive director and a mandated reporter, it was the legal and moral duty of Tiffany Nichols to ensure the safety and care of all children at The Malvern School. It is unconscionable that the defendant failed to protect these innocent, nonverbal, and defenseless young children," said DA Deb Ryan.

The DA's office released this timeline on the alleged abuse:

• Sept. 28, 2021: An eyewitness expressed concern about Aronson's lack of attentiveness to the children under her care. Nichols failed to investigate these concerns.

• Sept. 29, 2021: An eyewitness reported that Aronson had used unreasonable force on two children earlier that day. Nichols failed to contact Childline -the commonwealth's child protective services program-- to make an official report of child abuse. She also failed to notify the parents and continued to give Aronson access to children in the school.

• Sept. 30, 2021: An eyewitness sent an email to Nichols describing Aronson's physical abuse of three children on Sept. 28 and 29. Nichols met with the eyewitness shortly after receiving the email but failed to make an official report to Childline or notify the parents. She also failed to remove Aronson from the classroom until late in the afternoon, and still gave Aronson limited access to children the morning of Oct. 1.

Investigators say Nichols discussed Aronson's abuse with an eyewitness on Oct. 1 but failed to contact Childline until 9:34 p.m. and did not give an accurate report of the abuse.

Aronson is accused of grabbing kids and slamming them down to the ground and also on a wooden changing table. She's also accused of slamming kids on the floor and cursing at them.

In one instance, police say Aronson held a child in a headlock, causing the child's head to hit a door.

Police say the three victims were all under the age of two.

Aronson was charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and related offenses.

Nichols was released on $35,000 bail.