For the third time since February, a teacher who worked at Plum High School has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a student, a development the superintendent said “shocked” district officials.
The arrest of former substitute math teacher and custodian Michael F. Cinefra, 29, of Penn Hills was announced by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. He said the charge came through an interim presentment returned under seal Thursday by the county grand jury that is investigating the situation in Plum.
The relationship between Mr. Cinefra, who also previously served as ninth-grade baseball coach, and the student began with the cell phone game “Words With Friends,” and continued through text messages and intimate meetings, some at Plum High School, according to investigators.
Mr. Cinefra was a substitute in the Plum District from October 2010 through June 2014. According to investigators, he most recently has been working for an online school with offices on the South Side.
“The grand jury thought because he has access to kids, we should act on this now,” the district attorney said, stressing that the investigation continues. “There’s more work to be done.” He did not indicate how investigators learned about Mr. Cinefra’s relationship with the student.
Mr. Cinefra faces charges of institutional sexual assault, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent exposure, furnishing alcohol to a minor, indecent assault and two counts of corruption of minors. He faces a preliminary hearing next Wednesday before Plum District Justice Linda Zucco.
His arrest follows those in February of English teacher Joseph Ruggieri, 40, and science teacher Jason Cooper, 38, both of whom also face institutional sexual assault and witness intimidation charges for having sexual relationships with high school girls.
In April, science teacher Drew Zoldak, 40, was charged with intimidating Mr. Ruggieri’s victim, a claim that his attorney has repeatedly denied.
According to the grand jury presentment, Mr. Cinefra voluntarily met with District Attorney’s investigator Scott R. Evans and Plum Detective Mark Focareta on Aug. 19 on the South Side.
Mr. Cinefra confirmed the victim’s account that she met him during her freshman year and began communicating with him on the last day of classes in 2011, when she was 15 years old, and it continued through the beginning of her junior year.
The presentment said that in the summer following freshman year, the victim asked Mr. Cinefra to buy alcohol for her and he complied, then picked her up at her friend’s house and they engaged in a sex act. Text communications continued between the two, with Mr. Cinefra at one point sending the victim a picture of his genitals, investigators said.
The victim also told investigators she would visit with Mr. Cinefra when he worked in Plum and on about 10 occasions they met in various classrooms where they kissed and touched.
School district solicitor Lee Price said district officials did not know about the allegations against Mr. Cinefra until they saw them in media reports Tuesday.
Superintendent Timothy Glasspool, in a prepared statement, said district officials did not receive any complaints about Mr. Cinefra in regard to the allegations against him. Mr. Glasspool said Mr. Cinefra worked as a day-to-day substitute but had not been used since the 2013-14 school year.
“We are shocked by these findings and take these matters very seriously,” Mr. Glasspool wrote.
He noted the district is working “to ensure the highest degree of reporting and disclosure of any suspect activity that may come to light concerning teacher improprieties” and cooperating with the district attorney’s investigation.
First Published: September 15, 2015, 3:01 p.m.
Updated: September 16, 2015, 3:01 a.m.