Seneca Valley instructor accused of sexual assault
By Karen Zapf
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Jackson police in Butler County are investigating allegations that a male instructor in the Seneca Valley School District sexually assaulted a student.
No arrest been made, Jackson Police Chief Len Keller said on Saturday. The investigation has involved interviews with more than 20 Seneca Valley students, said school spokeswoman Linda Andreassi.
"We are continuing to interview students," Keller said yesterday. "I think that is the purpose of the investigation to find out all of the details and the number of potential victims that may have been affected by this."
It is the second time in nine days that an employee of a school district has been implicated in an improper relationship with a student.
Beth Ann Chester, 26, a Moon Area High School teacher, has been charged with 14 counts including statutory sexual assault. Police said Chester admitted to having sex with a 14-year-old boy in the school's parking lot.
Keller said a parent came to Seneca Valley's campus on Seneca School Road at 8:10 a.m. Thursday to make a report. The male instructor was "removed from the campus Thursday afternoon," Keller said.
"I don't think the remainder of the campus is at risk," Keller said.
The man is not a teacher nor is he a coach, officials said.
"I can not give out information because the police are still in the middle of working on this," said Dean Berekebile, president of the Seneca Valley School Board.
Authorities called a press conference at the Seneca Valley Administration Building yesterday morning after parents began calling reporters Friday night about a possible sexual assault against a student.
Keller said the male instructor is affiliated with a "specific program on the secondary campus." The police chief and school district officials, though, declined to identify it. Officials were providing few details so that "juveniles will not suffer more harm," Keller said.
The male instructor was not a member of the teacher's, said Butch Santicola, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the union that represents the district's 585 unionized teachers.
"It's a non-teaching position, so we don't even know who he is," Santicola said.
Asked if alcohol or narcotics played a role in the assault, Keller said no.
The officials would not say if the student was male or female or remains at school.
Keller said he would confer with the Butler County District Attorney's Office to decide if any charges should be filed. District Attorney Richard Goldinger could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Andreassi said the case is unrelated to a lockdown Tuesday at the main Seneca campus involving an intoxicated adult.
Many people attending a wrestling tournament at Seneca Valley High School yesterday said they hadn't heard about the allegations.
"I hope it's not true," said Pete Brueckman, 73, of Evans City. "But you hear about this (type of incident) all the time."
Other area teachers recently dismissed include:
• Ambridge Area teacher Dean Costanza, sentenced in March, was convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.
• Pittsburgh Public schools teacher Ryan Novak, 26, who was charged with having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.
• Julie Stimmel, 28, a North Allegheny Senior High School English teacher fired in January 2007 for having an improper relationship with a 17-year-old boy.
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