Teacher Convicted Of Abusing Boys

Monday, October 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) â€” A former fifth-grade teacher has been convicted of sexually abusing two boys who said he crept into their bunk beds after their father invited him to spend the night.

Steven Nowicki was found guilty Sunday of 22 counts of sodomy, sexual abuse and endangering children.

Westchester County Judge Mary Smith ordered Nowicki jailed without bail until he is sentenced next month. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

``These brave young boys told the truth and as a result, this criminal will meet his punishment,'' District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.

Defense attorney John Mangialardi had not decided whether to appeal. He said jurors told him ``there was too much evidence for the defense to overcome.''

Child abuse is terrible, Mangialardi said, ``but it's even more terrible to convict somebody of it if they didn't do it.''

Nowicki, who was the 10-year-old boy's teacher, had been invited to the family's home for a New Year's Eve party. The father let Nowicki spend the night, deciding he was too drunk to drive home.

Nowicki, 37, admitted entering the boys' bedroom en route to the bathroom but only to lie down after getting dizzy.

``I felt carpeting beneath my feet and I thought, `This is good enough for me,''' he said.

The boys said he first molested the 8-year-old, then climbed to the 10-year-old's upper bunk.

Also, DNA experts said they found saliva on the 10-year-old that was almost certainly Nowicki's.

The defense lawyer suggested that Nowicki's saliva had been collected in a spittoon during the party and used to frame him.

Prosecutors scoffed at that theory.