Pennsylvania Special Education Assistant Accused of Sexually Abusing Male Students
It seems that reports of student sex abuse in Pennsylvania schools are always in the news, i.e., a student sexually abused by a teacher, teacher’s aide, coach or other school employee. A recent PA student sex abuse scandal happened in a school in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
At the end of October, a 48 year old special education assistant at McKeesport Area High School was placed on leave and denied access to district students. According to police, Michelle Mellinger engaged in sexual acts with 4 male students on multiple occasions beginning in February 2012. All 4 males were under 18 at the time of the alleged assaults. It is unclear whether the victims were special education students.
Mellinger now faces multiple felony charges, including institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with minors and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The student sex abuse allegations came to light when staff members at the high school overheard student conversations referring to the incidents and reported them to school administrators.
According to the criminal complaint, Mellinger texted the students, picked them up in her car and took them to her apartment where she would perform oral sex and have sex with the students.
Related: Sexual Abuse-Assault Lawsuits Against Private Schools in Pennsylvania – Negligence
Pennsylvania Basketball Coach Accused of Sexually Abusing 16 Year Old Player
This student sex scandal came just weeks after another student sex abuse scandal in a school in Allegheny County. A 33 year old girls varsity basketball coach, Cliff Foster, at Pine-Richland High School was arrested for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 16 year old girl on his team.
This student sex abuse case came to light after the Allegheny County Department of Human Services’ Office of Children, Youth and Families received a report about the relationship between the coach and student.
The 16 year old girl told authorities that “she could tell Foster anything and would relate to Foster more than any other friend.” She met Foster before practice in the mornings, for lunch and talked to him on the phone about basketball. The inappropriate sexual relationship between them started in April 2015 and ended a few days prior to Foster’s arrest.
When the basketball team played in other states, the girl and Foster would stay together in hotel rooms. The weekend prior to his arrest, the basketball coach took the girl to Philadelphia to look at universities, stayed at hotels and engaged in sexual acts.
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*Sources
- www.post-gazette.com (McKeesport Area special ed assistant charged with having sex with students)
- www.post-gazette.com (Pine-Richland coach arrested on charges of having sexual relationship with player)