Man arraigned on class-trip sex charges

NEW YORK (AP) - Prosecutors say a Connecticut father chaperoning an elementary school trip to New York City groped a half-dozen preteen girls and ignored alarmed teachers who told him to stop. His lawyer says the chaperone committed no crime.

Tomas Manzano of Stamford, Conn., is being held on $200,000 bond after his arraignment Tuesday on charges including sexual abuse and child endangerment. He didn't enter a plea.

The 35-year-old snowboarding instructor was arrested June 2. Manhattan prosecutors say he drank what appeared to be alcohol from a water bottle and then touched the 10- and-11-year-old girls' legs, breasts and faces on a bus trip to the city.

Defense lawyer Paul Petrus Jr. says while Manzano is accused of having some contact with the children, that doesn't mean it was criminal.