A Pennsylvania teacher has been charged with felony
institutional se'xual assault following allegations that she had se'x with two
18-year-old students at her home.
Tiffany
Leiseth, 26, worked as a substitute English teacher in the New
Brighton School District, northwest of Pittsburgh. The
victims in the case were both taught by Leiseth, although the alleged se'x acts
occurred after classes had ended for the year.
Police launched an investigation in late May after they
received tips that the teacher had sent nude photos to each of the young men.
“[Investigators] followed up on that rumor and they found
those students, and they found the nude photographs, and they identified the
teacher,” Moon Township Police Chief Leo McCarthy told CBS Pittsburgh.
In interviews with police, each victim described how he had
been invited to Leiseth’s house, was offered beer, and then engaged in se'xual
activity with the teacher. The first student came over on the last day of
school, in the hours following the end of classes. The second student said he
visited Leiseth’s home the next day, according to police.
She reportedly told the students not to tell anyone,
according to WPXI.
Leiseth lost her job in the wake of the allegations, but her
attorney argued that since classes were over when the alleged acts occurred,
she wasn’t their teacher anymore.
“I’m not going to get in a war at this point with the
alleged victims’ families,” Michael DeRiso, Leiseth’s attorney, told the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The reality is you had three consenting adults once
school let out.”
McCarthy disagrees.
“Regardless of your age, whether you’re an adult or not, if
you’re a high school student, a teacher cannot have se'xual relations with
you,” McCarthy told WPXI.
However, because the young men were 18 years old, police
could not charge Leiseth with a crime for sending them nu.de photos, CBS
Pittsburgh reports.
Leiseth’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 22.
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