PINE GROVE - The Pine Grove Area Schuylkill District released a statement Friday concerning the criminal charges filed against faculty member Matthew Ryan Pfautz after he allegedly tried to get a teenage student to have sex with him.
Matthew R. Pfautz, 29, of Blue Jay Drive, Stevens, was charged Thursday with corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor, according to state police Trooper Chad Smith of the Schuylkill Haven station.
The charges against Pfautz stem from incidents involving a 17-year-old girl at the high school and in the borough of Pine Grove between Sept. 1, 2011, and May 30.
During that time period, Smith said Pfautz both in person and via text message enticed the teenager to perform sexual acts with him both in and out of the school building, police said.
Pfautz, an English teacher at the high school, also made lewd comments to the teen as well as sending her lewd text messages, police said.
The charges were filed with Magisterial District Judge Carol A. Pankake, Tremont, who will schedule a preliminary hearing for Pfautz in her Tremont courtroom, and as of Friday evening, Pfautz was not in custody and had yet to be arraigned on the charges.
According to a statement released Friday by Pine Grove Area Superintendent Brian T. Uplinger, the school district is not only making every effort to fully cooperate with state police and other law enforcement agencies in connection with the charges, but has also taken appropriate action pursuant to the School Code to suspend Pfautz without pay.
"The investigation will continue and the district will be exploring all available options, including potential termination of the employee," Uplinger said. "The district is taking all necessary steps to ensure the continued integrity of its professional staff and the well-being of its students and to take all necessary steps to deter the likelihood of any such future conduct."
