Media Handout
Jordan Dominique Ondish, a Pennsylvania special education teacher at a school for juvenile offenders, has been accused of having sex with a student in her classroom.
Ondish was arrested after school officials at Summit Academy in Herman, Pennslyvania obtained cellphone records with sexual text messages between her and an unidentified 19-year-old student.
According to officials, Ondish is also accused of buying the unidentified teen the phone. The unidentified victim told investigators that he and Ondish started talking outside class and things progressed to them having sex twice in her classroom in November.
Ondish allegedly admitted to the incident, saying that she was in an abusive relationship and “developed an emotional connection to the victim.”
Ms. Ondish was fired at the end of last week, said Dick Roberts, a spokesman for the school. He could not say the age of the student or whether the student was in the school’s special education program.
Summit Academy administrators previously issued Ms. Ondish a written warning telling her to protect her personal space after she disobeyed the school’s rules about being alone with students.
The warning was issued in mid-November after she had the student sit next to her at her desk and stay with her in her classroom after work hours, according to court records. Ondish is also accused of buying a cell phone for the student and exchanging explicit texts with him, according to a criminal complaint.
Her attorney, Kevin Abramovitz, said Monday that Ms. Ondish takes the charge seriously and is with her family.
Ondish was charged with felony institutional sexual assault and was released from jail on Monday, December 4 on a $30,000 bond.
She is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on February 13, 2018.
This is the latest in a string of teacher/student sex scandals this year. In November, Tennessee teacher Janet Smothers was arrested. Former nutrition teacher LaToya Parker was also arrested for a relationship with a student. Florida teacher Caroline Lawson was charged with sexual assault. 26-year-old Allyson Moran was also arrested for similar crimes. The 23-year-old high school teacher Katherine Ross Ridenhour was also arrested for an inappropriate relationship.
Furthermore, Hunter Day, 22, was also arrested after a sting operation. Megan Kotarski was also arrested on similar charges. Michelle Schiffer, a 23-year-old history teacher in Texas, was also charged and arrested for allegedly having sex with a teenage student. 29-year-old Alyssia Marie Reddy was arrested in Maryland for her crimes in New Jersey. Samantha Fitzgerland, a 28-year-old, was most recently arrested and charged.
