| |
|
Andrea Fox
First
| Previous Picture |
Next Picture |
Last |
Thumbnails
Thursday, June 05, 2008
PALMER TWP. | An Easton Area
High School teacher is on paid leave after she was caught arranging a
sexual encounter with a student by instant messaging, multiple sources
said Wednesday.
Andrea Fox, 33, agreed to a
rendezvous proposed by a 17-year-old high school student during an
Internet chat in the school May 22, sources said.
School district officials
turned over Fox's school computer to Palmer Township police Wednesday,
sources said.
Palmer Police Chief Bruce Fretz
said Fox is currently under investigation and no criminal charges have
been filed. He declined to comment further.
Fox, a German teacher, did not
return a telephone message left at her home Wednesday.
She was escorted from the high
school and suspended with pay on May 22, before any rendezvous with
the student was held, according to the sources who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
Officials do not believe Fox
and the student ever had sex, but they had a suspicious friendship and
longstanding flirtation, sources said.
The student was 17 at the time
but has since turned 18.
School Board President Pat
Vulcano Jr. declined to discuss specifics of the case, but said the
board will take action after police finish their investigation.
"The board will take whatever
necessary action is warranted," Vulcano said.
District officials began monitoring Fox's computer May
22 after another student reported seeing the 17-year-old touch Fox in
a way that seemed inappropriate during a conversation in a classroom
that day, multiple sources said.
A district official later monitored a text conversation between Fox
and the student via iChat, an instant messaging program, sources said.
According to sources, the student propositioned Fox for sex during
that chat. Fox was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed to meet
the student at her house that evening, sources said.
"She was hesitant, but receptive," a source said of Fox.
She will be placed on unpaid leave when and if criminal charges are
filed, sources said.
School District Solicitor Alan McFall was not available Wednesday to
comment on Fox's job status. Neither Acting Superintendent Susan
McGinley nor Assistant to the Superintendent Joseph Kish returned
calls for comment.
Vulcano said board action would be taken based on the conclusion of
the police investigation, which sources said began Wednesday. Vulcano
said he did not know whether the iChat conversations alone were
grounds for dismissal.
"We may find out there really isn't enough there to charge anybody,"
Vulcano said.
Pat Broscius, a Northampton County assistant district attorney, was
not aware of this specific investigation. Generally, she said, a
teacher involved in an arrangement to have sex with a student could be
charged with corruption of minors if the student is older than 16 but
under 18.
Criminal charges wouldn't apply if the student were 18, Broscius said.
Vulcano said the chats might be a violation of school district policy
regarding Internet and technology use, which states, "Inappropriate,
unauthorized, and/or illegal use may result in cancellation of this
privilege and appropriate disciplinary action," according to the
district Web site.
Fox earned a yearly salary of $48,461 during the 2006-07 school year
and has worked in the district for 10 years, according to the
Pennsylvania Department of Education.
She graduated from Millersville University in 1998 with degrees in
education and German, and earned a master's degree in secondary
education from Moravian College in 2003, according to her Facebook
page.
Source:
http://www.pennlive.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1212638894233300.xml&coll=2 |
|
