A history and drama teacher at a Pennsylvania high school has been charged with corruption of minors after police alleged he sent a 14-year-old girl sexually explicit text messages and provided multiple girls with links to a website featuring “disturbing pornographic pictures with women in bondage.”
Michael Chase, 51, was arraigned Thursday morning on the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. His bail was set at $50,000, with the condition that he is to have no contact with any student upon his release.
Chase is accused of “sexting” with a female student starting in 2012, when she was just 14, and ending this summer, when she was 17 and went to school officials and the police. According to investigators, the girl said Chase provided her with a phone card “so her parents wouldn’t be aware of such contact.”
Although the girl maintains they never had physical sexual contact, court documents indicate that Chase provided her with money to pay for the “Plan B” morning-after pill, which was made available over-the-counter to minors in 2013.
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At the time, concerned pro-life activists pointed out that making Plan B over-the-counter would make it far easier for sexual predators to cover up their crimes, by coercing vulnerable young girls to take the pills to prevent or end any pregnancy resulting from their abuse. Later undercover stings proved this to be the case, as videos surfaced showing pharmacy employees in four states actually conspiring with self-described statutory rapists to keep their relationships secret. In one case, an employee went so far as to suggest an adult man slip Plan B into his underage victim’s drink.
Chase has been suspended from his job with the Tunkhannock Area School District pending the outcome of his trial. A preliminary hearing is set for next Thursday, September 18.