Jonathan Wisneski was found not guilty of sexually assaulting two students at Primos Middle School

A Delaware County jury on Thursday acquitted a former Primos Middle School principal of charges of sexually assaulting two underage students in 2018.

Jonathan Wisneski, 45, was charged in 2022 with indecent assault, sexual contact with a student, endangering the welfare of a child and related offenses after two girls, now 17 and 14, told police he had them in His office grabbed his breasts and buttocks at the school.

The teens, who are cousins, were in fifth and fourth grade at the time of the alleged attacks.

Wisneski’s attorney, William Davis, claimed during the trial that the teens were unreliable witnesses who made statements that could not be corroborated and, in one case, were false.

Davis said Friday that Wisneski feels vindicated by the jury’s verdict and looks forward to overcoming the stigma the case has brought into his life.

“He has maintained from the beginning that he was completely innocent, and the jury saw that,” Davis said. “This is why his life is on hold: he had been an educator and working on his doctoral thesis for 15 years when he was arrested, and then suddenly he could no longer work in the field to which he had dedicated his life.”

Upper Darby School District officials investigated Wisneski in 2018 after complaints were made about his interactions with some students, including the older teen, and teachers, according to court testimony. They — and prosecutors — determined there was insufficient evidence to file criminal charges, but Wisneski was dismissed.

Four years later, the older teen went to police with allegations of sexual assault and said she recently remembered more details. Her cousin joined her and reported that she too had been attacked by Wisneski.

The older teen testified during this week’s trial that Wisneski invited her to his office at school at least six times and groped her breasts and buttocks while hugging her. She also said he once placed his hand on her thigh near her genitals.

The teen also testified that Wisneski once slapped her in the face when she refused to sit on his lap, an incident she said other students witnessed. But Davis, Wisneski’s attorney, said that was untrue and the other students denied seeing her being beaten.

“For an 11-year-old girl to get slapped in the face in a school and no one sees it is a completely unbelievable story,” Davis said. “No one saw him do anything that made them uncomfortable.”

The 14-year-old said Wisneski touched her buttocks and roughly grabbed her arm. She also said Wisneski asked her to play “Butt Ball,” a game in which she bounced a ball on her butt in his office.

She admitted in court that she misled investigators: she invented the game and Wisneski asked her not to do it in front of him.