Music teacher pleads guilty to indecent assault
June 9, 2007
Adapted from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A prominent figure in local music circles pleaded guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy who was one of his music students.
The 56-year-old went to jail immediately after pleading guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor count of corrupting the morals and second-degree misdemeanor counts of indecent assault and furnishing alcohol to a minor.
"It's a just resolution to the case," said the district attorney, who said the family of the victim agreed to the plea.
"He's taking responsibility for what he did and we're satisfied that we didn't have to put the victim through a trial," said the district attorney.
Dropped in exchange for the guilty plea during a special court session was a second count of corrupting the morals of a minor.
The sentence, which is to be issued at the end of the month, will be 90 to 180 days for indecent assault and probation for the other charges.
The music teacher served as liturgical music director of a local Catholic church, a position he had held since 1974. As music director, he was a visible personage in the downtown church of 1,800 families. He led the music components of Mass, directed choirs and founded and directed the church's annual festival.
In addition to his position at the church, he had been employed since 1985 as first an adjunct, then as a part-time professor at a county community college. He also was co-founder and director of the choral society. He resigned all positions after his arrest.
He was a popular teacher for private lessons in voice, organ, and piano. It was during private music lessons that he molested a 16-year-old boy.
The boy testified during a preliminary hearing that he had sexual relations with the man shortly before his 16th birthday.
Police recorded a 20-minute telephone conversation between the boy and the man that corroborated the boy's report.
The district attorney said the man asked that his bond be revoked so he could begin his jail term immediately. |
