COUNSELOR ACCUSED OF TEEN SEX ABUSE

John Phillips, a 19 year old Uniondale youth counselor, was arraigned April 4 on charges that he sexually abused a teenager at a recreation center and made inappropriate sexual comments to others.  Phillips, of 689 Lafayette Avenue, was ordered held in lieu of $1,500 bail.  He is charged with third degree sexual abuse, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and fourth degree possession of a dangerous weapon, for purchasing brass knuckles.  An investigation into his conduct began on March 27 after staff members at the Uniondale Community Council Youth Project heard that Phillips had been asking a few teenage boys about their sexual preferences.  Detectives also discovered that he had touched on boy inappropriately in one of the center's bathrooms on March 5.  They also learned that Phillips had given another teenage boy a present of brass knuckles.  

(New York)