Former Faison teacher tells jury he did not sexually harass a student

A former Pittsburgh Public Schools elementary school teacher accused of sexually abusing a student in the classroom denied the allegations in his own defense statement in court on Thursday.

When asked by his lawyer Blaine Jones whether he had committed the crimes he was accused of, James Ziegler replied: “Absolutely not.”

Ziegler said he also denied the allegations when questioned by Pittsburgh police, calling the charges “outrageous” and “ridiculous.”

Last year, police arrested Ziegler, 42, of Pittsburgh, on six felony charges, including involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a child and sexual assault.

The trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court began on Wednesday.

Ziegler was a fourth-grade teacher at Pittsburgh Faison K-5 in the Homewood district.

Police accused Ziegler of sexually abusing a boy several times while the two were alone at school.

The boy testified Wednesday and described the alleged attacks in detail, saying they took place in a classroom at the Tioga Street school.

TribLive does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.

The boy said he told his mother about the attacks in December 2022 and that they had been occurring since August of this year.

“My mother said my brother was going to Faison and I didn’t want the same thing to happen to him,” the boy told the jury.

The boy said the attacks took place when the two were alone. He could not give specific dates or the frequency of the alleged attacks.

On Thursday, Ziegler testified that he had had several contacts with the boy’s mother. Ziegler said the child had been inattentive.

“It was not pleasant – not at all,” Ziegler said of their interactions.

Ziegler said he learned of the allegations when he received a call from the elementary school principal asking if he was alone.

“I didn’t know how to react,” Ziegler said. “I was devastated, I was confused, I was angry.”

Ziegler said he was informed at the time that he had been placed on leave.

At the time, he had just been promoted to assistant principal at Faison.

He said he was asked to come and tell his side of the story.

Ziegler decided to speak to the police and underwent a two-hour interrogation by a detective.

“You don’t need a lawyer to tell the truth,” Ziegler said. “I would have stayed there as long as I needed to.”

Ziegler said he learned about the charges against him not from the police but from the news.

“I got a call saying I was on the news,” Ziegler said. “I was extremely angry.”

After calling his girlfriend and asking her to look after his daughter, Ziegler turned himself in, he said.

Ziegler told the court that after graduating from Duquesne University and then earning a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, he worked as a teacher for nearly 20 years.

Jurors are expected back Friday morning to hear closing arguments from both sides before Judge Bruce Beemer.