Christine Marie Towers, a 26-year-old woman who taught at a school outside of Philadelphia, has been put in jail for between 11 and 23 months after she had sex with a teenage boy that she tutored. According to investigators, the unidentified teenage boy has learning disabilities.
Towers, 26, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to institutional sexual assault and corruption of minors at the Chester County Justice Center in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
As a result of her charges, Towers will be on probation for five years after her release from jail and must register as a sex offender.
Via Philly.com:
Through tears, the boy, his mother, and his grandmother all told County Court Judge Patrick Carmody of the “devastation” Towers caused their family when she started a sexual relationship with the boy last year. The month-long liaison ended with her arrest in April. The boy, who said he has learning disabilities, told Carmody that he did not understand the direction the relationship was headed and was “mostly just confused.”
“She made me think I was her everything and she would go crazy if I left her,” the boy said. “I cooperated with the detectives because I saw it as a way out.”
After police charged Towers and word of their relationship got out, the boy said classmates mocked him in the hallways. He quit playing basketball, in part because opposing players jeered “teacher’s pet” at him. Towers has ruined his senior year in high school, he said, and he is seeing a therapist.
Towers began tutoring the student in math and other subjects in 2016. The student told police that the relationship turned sexual when Towers kissed him on March 17, 2016. According to prosecutor Emily Provencher, Towers took the teen to the mall, out to eat, and on trips to Philadelphia. Over the course of about a month between March and April 2016, he and Towers had sex four times.
Vincent P. DiFabio, Towers’ lawyer, says she accepts full responsibility. Furthermore, Towers told the judge that she had “gravely” learned her lesson and that she wanted “to deeply apologize for my actions.”
Towers worked as a paraeducator and coach in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District from August 2014 until April 2016 and coached soccer, basketball, softball, and track at both the middle and high school levels.
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What Happened?
Christine Marie Towers, a 26-year-old woman who taught at a school outside of Philadelphia, has been put in jail for between 11 and 23 months after she had sex with a teenage boy that she tutored.
Where Did This Happen?
Christine Marie Towers tutored at Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.
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