Ringgold High School Latest To Be Rocked By Sex Scandal

A trail of months-old text messages, followed by a police investigation that discovers an inappropriate relationship between an educator and a student: It’s a story line that’s becoming all too familiar.

At Plum High School, police have charged two teachers with crimes involving students. At Norwin High School, an investigation is ongoing after what were described as inappropriate text messages were found between a teacher and a student.

It unfolded again Thursday in the Ringgold School District, where police announced they had filed charges against a former guidance counselor for allegedly having sex with a high school football player.

Rostraver police said Lianne Danko, 33, of Rostraver, was charged with three counts of institutional sexual assault.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2015/05/21/Police-to-file-charges-against-Ringgold-guidance-counselor/stories/201505210175

Plum Officials: District Won’t Inhibit ‘Constitutionally Protected Speech’

Plum Borough School District administrators and borough police walked back assertions they made last week suggesting students could be arrested for “irresponsible” talk or social media postings about investigations into teacher sex abuse allegations.

“The district will not prevent or inhibit any individuals from engaging in constitutionally protected speech,” said Superintendent Timothy Glasspool in a letter the district released Monday. Glasspool did not respond to requests for comment.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania said the district’s statement was “more cryptic than we would have liked,” but the group said it accepted the clarification of the issue, according to ACLU-PA legal director Witold Walczak.

The ACLU became involved when local police and high school administrators held an assembly and cautioned students against discussing the investigation publicly, telling them they could be arrested for “irresponsible” and “immature” talk, tweets, texts, emails, or posts to Facebook.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/8250483-74/students-police-protest#ixzz3YY08sJbH
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Third Plum High School Teacher Charged In Connection With Student-Sex Case

Plum police on Wednesday filed witness intimidation charges against a Plum high school forensic science teacher.

Drew Zoldak, 40, of New Kensington, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of intimidation of a witness or victim.

Zoldak was arraigned just after 11:30 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Linda Zucco.

According to the criminal complaint, after investigators from the Allegheny District Attorney’s office interviewed Zoldak, he apologized to his class for being absent from class and singled out as the cause a victim one of the other Plum teachers is accused of having sex with. According to the complaint, Zoldak then called the victim to the front of the class and asked her if she would be okay with the following week’s topic: sexual assault.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/8216989-74/charges-assault-held#ixzz3Y3kPZQEK
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State College Police: Criminal Activity Down Again On State Patty’s Day

Counties constituting the Happy Valley Region of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

STATE COLLEGE, PA — Police activity on the Penn State student-created drinking holiday State Patty’s Day was down for the third consecutive year, State College police Lt. Bradley Smail said Sunday.

Police said late Sunday that initial numbers indicate total crime was down 47 percent and arrests decreased 61 percent. Smail said the activity was more in line with a typical football weekend than the normally damaging day of drinking.

“We didn’t have a whole lot of destructive behavior,” Smail said anecdotally, in comparison to previous years.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/03/02/4064212/state-college-police-criminal.html#storylink=cpy

Teen Charged As Adult With Attempted Abduction And Rape In Lansdale Park Headed For Trial

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LANSDALE, PA — A 16-year-old El Salvadoran citizen charged as an adult with the attempted knifepoint abduction and rape of a woman in front of her three young children at a Lansdale park earlier this month waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday, while prosecutors added another charge to the long list of criminal counts he’s facing and Lansdale detectives revealed more information about the teen.

Handcuffed, clad in a red prison jumpsuit and wearing a sullen expression, Gerson Portillo-Guardado was led by Lansdale police into District Judge Harold Borek’s Lansdale court early Tuesday morning, and after conferring briefly with Ayla O’Brien, his public defender, with the help of a translator — as he does not speak English, police said — Portillo-Guardado waived all charges filed against him for trial in connection with the alleged Jan. 13 incident.

Just prior to the hearing, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office charged Portillo-Guardado with felony attempted kidnapping on top of the 10 charges already filed against him at his Jan. 13 preliminary arraignment — a list that includes felony attempted rape and felony attempted sexual assault, as well as misdemeanor charges of simple assault, unlawful restraint, recklessly endangering another person, disorderly conduct and more.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140128/teen-charged-as-adult-with-attempted-abduction-and-rape-in-lansdale-park-headed-for-trial

Man Charged With Raping Teen Girl In Sherman Hills

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WILKES-BARRE, PA — City police arrested a man they say raped a 14-year-old girl inside an apartment at Sherman Hills last year.

Maurice Anthony Porter, 26, of Elizabeth Street, Dallas, was arraigned today by District Judge Martin Kane on six counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, three counts each of aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault, and one count each of rape, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault and corruption of minors. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $200,000 bail.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/1145679/Man-charged-with-raping-teen-girl-in-Sherman-Hills

Tulpehocken Phys-Ed Teacher Charged With Sexual Assault Of Student

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Tulpehocken High School physical education teacher was arrested Wednesday and charged with having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student.

Nicole Kurowski, who was also a cheerleading coach, surrendered to authorities and was arraigned on an institutional sexual assault charge before District Judge Thomas M. Gauby Sr.

She was released on $25,000 bail.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=518371

Police: Rockview Inmate Alone With Woman For 27 Minutes During Sexual Assault

Counties constituting the Happy Valley Region of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A former Rockview state prison inmate charged Thursday with the brutal sexual assault of a female employee was alone with the woman for 27 minutes, despite the fact that she sounded her emergency whistle, police say.

Omar Best, 36, faces multiple felony counts, including rape and aggravated assault, stemming from the July 25 assault. He is accused of raping the woman and choking her unconscious.

Charging documents filed Thursday by state police revealed new details about the assault.

Police said Best was able to get the woman alone by walking into a clerical area where she was working. She blew a whistle to signify she was in danger when Best approached her, but no help came, police said.

Read more here:  http://www.centredaily.com/2013/10/10/3831816/inmate-charged-with-july-rape.html#storylink=cpy

DA: More Girls Say Pennridge Softball Coach Had Sex With Them

Map of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Four more teenagers reported that a softball and basketball coach had sex with them, prosecutors revealed as investigators continue to look into allegations against the 36-year-old Richland Township man.

The girls came forward following Eric Romig’s arrest last week on a half-dozen sex charges, including institutional sexual assault, after a 16-year-old girl’s parents discovered he was allegedly having sex with their daughter, according to court records.

The new allegations were enough for Jennifer Schorn, chief of the Bucks County district attorney’s major crimes division, to request Romig’s bail be raised.

Following a bail modification hearing Wednesday, Judge Wallace Bateman ordered Romig’s bail raised from 10 percent of $500,000 to $1 million cash, meaning Romig would have to post $1 million to be released.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-pennridge-softball-coach-more-sex-charges-20131010,0,705708.story#ixzz2hRI2JG9b
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Man Charged In Kidnapping, Rape Of Woman In Bethlehem Held On $2.5 Million Bail

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Police said Steven Kitchell kept a 21-year-old woman locked inside a third-floor bedroom of a home at 826 Montclair Ave. where she was beaten, sexually assaulted and given heroin, according to court records.

On June 15, the woman was able to escape after she said Kitchell left a key ring behind, authorities say.  When Kitchell left the house, the woman was able to use the key to unlock the door and fled.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-bethlehem-kidnap-rape-hearing-20130719,0,1237238.story#ixzz2ZVDMNbei
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Birdsboro Man Pleads Guilty To Attempted Murder, Sex Assault, Attempting To Hire Hit Man

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

READING — The Berks County man accused of shooting a Limerick fire official in the head, sexually assaulting a minor and attempting to hire a hit man from jail to eliminate witnesses plead guilty to all charges against him on Wednesday.

Christopher Yingling, 43, of Birdsboro, received no special agreements in exchange for his guilty pleas and will spend the next 27 to 70 years in jail for his crimes, according to the Berks County District Attorney’s office.

“Given the brazenness of his crimes and the harm that he caused his victims, we are pleased with what is effectively a life sentence for the defendant,” said Berks County Assstant District Attorney Jesse Leisawitz in a statement late Wednesday night.

Berks County Common Pleas Court Judge Stephen B. Lieberman was scheduled to preside over Yingling’s trial.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130530/NEWS01/130529129/birdsboro-man-pleads-guilty-to-attempted-murder-sex-assault-attempting-to-hire-hit-man#full_story

Nazareth Teacher Accused Of Molesting Boy Student; ‘Who Checked This Guy Out?’ Board Member Asks

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Northampton County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Nazareth Area Middle School drama teacher has been arrested on charges that he sexually molested a male student at the school over a two-year period, according to court records filed Friday.

Shawn William Salevsky, 39, of the 1500 block of Kennington Lane in Lower Macungie Township, is charged with 22 offenses that include involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault of a victim under age 16, sexual assault, corruption of a minor and reckless endangerment.

Among the allegations in court papers, police said that during a school production of “Snoopy,” Salevsky followed the boy into the bathroom during a wardrobe change and touched the boy’s penis before the boy ran and shut himself in a stall.

On a bus trip to see a play in New York, Salevsky “did open his pants and attempt to lay on top of the victim,” according to court papers.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-c-nazareth-middle-school-drama-teacher-sex-stud-20130503,0,332875,full.story

Penn State Child Abuse Scandal Fallout Continues

The fallout at Penn State continues.

In addition to Jerry Sandusky, JoePa, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Mike McQueary and Graham Spanier, you can add Second Mile charity CEO Jack Raykovitz to the growing cast of characters.  Mr. Raykovitz resigned Sunday after 28 years at the helm.  So far all the victims were boys in the Second Mile program.  Second Mile has retained Philadelphia law firm Archer & Greiner as its counsel.

Mike McQueary, on paid administrative leave, is apparently consulting with the Harrisburg law firm of Strokoff and Cowden, who specialize in employment law.  McQueary received death threats and is reportedly in hiding.  

McQueary is being handled differently than the others because he is a witness in the case and he also may fall under Pennsylvania’s whistleblower law.  The law includes protection for the whistleblower against firing, demotion or punishment.  McQueary’s status under this law is still being determined.