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Teacher's aide turns herself in over 'secret love' with teen

It was a "secret love" within the confines of North Penn High School in Lansdale. She told him she wanted to have sex with him this summer, according to the affidavit of probable cause. He already began making his moves on her in a darkened classroom while a movie played for students, the document read.

It was a "secret love" within the confines of North Penn High School in Lansdale.

She told him she wanted to have sex with him this summer, according to the affidavit of probable cause. He already began making his moves on her in a darkened classroom while a movie played for students, the document read.

But Michelle Zulkowsky, 28, a teacher's aide with the North Penn School District, grew fearful of her "emotional connection" with a 16-year-old student in the English as a Second Language program.

Zulkowsky's internal alarm prompted her to blow the whistle - on herself, authorities said.

Zulkowsky, of North Wales, was arrested Wednesday and charged with corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children, each crime a misdemeanor. She is free after posting $25,000 bail. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 8.

She resigned April 18 from North Penn School District, one day after Towamencin Township Police interviewed her at the high school, the school district said in a statement. The district hired Zulkowsky in January 2007 as an assistant for the English as a Second Language program, the district said.

The school district is cooperating with police and the D.A.'s office regarding Zulkowsky, whom the district statement only identified as "the former employee."

"Student safety is a top priority of the North Penn School District," the statement said.

Risa Vetri Ferman, the Montgomery County District Attorney, said Zulkowsky wrote up a report "about her own conduct.

"She was concerned about it. She knows it was wrong," Ferman said. "I give her credit for taking the responsibility she had to take as an adult and especially as a teacher. She was in a place of trust."

The case was referred to the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth, according to the affidavit.

Zulkowsky indicated she "did not have any control over her feelings," the affidavit read.

One time, according to the affidavit, which identifies the 10th-grader only as "J.F.", Zulkowsky placed "her hand on his stomach and then J.F. put her hand on his penis over his clothing. She moved her hand away, but she continued to rub the outside of his leg."

Zulkowsky "never told him to stop, but he could see that she was embarrassed and J.F. would stop on his own," according to the affidavit.

Zulkowsky began to supervise J.F. in September, the document said, and by January, "she told him that she loved him and that she wanted to be with him."

The teacher's aide gave J.F. photos of herself, one was labeled in Spanish and read "my heart and very much love . . . ," according to the court documents.

Zulkowsky also wrote poems for the student, including one about "secret love" that she gave him on Valentine's Day. She also gave J.F. CDs by Spanish musicians.

The teacher's aide feared time with J.F. would get her arrested.

It did.

"She acknowledged her wrongdoing before it got worse," Ferman said. *