A former Bellport High School teacher and coach has been acquitted of having sex with a female student but was convicted of a lesser charge of child endangerment following a two-week-long trial.
A Suffolk County jury found Jonathon Elsalam not guilty of third-degree rape and criminal sexual act but found him guilty of endangering the welfare of a child.
Prosecutors had alleged that the 28-year-old had sexual relations with a girl younger than 17 between December 2011 and May 2012.
The South Country Central School District removed Elsalam from his classroom and coaching duties in October of 2012.
Elsalam faces up to one year in jail when he is sentenced May 9.
