A former substitute teacher at Plum High School faces prison time after pleading guilty Thursday to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and related counts involving a female student in the district.
Michael Cinefra, 30, of Penn Hills will be sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman on Feb. 1. He also pleaded guilty to unlawful contact, institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors and furnishing alcohol to minors.
The guilty plea marks the end of prosecutions of Plum teachers charged in a sex abuse scandal that has roiled the school district since early 2015.
Mr. Cinefra admitted to buying alcohol for the 15-year-old student and then having sexual contact with her beginning in the summer of 2011 between her freshman and sophomore years in high school.
According to assistant district attorney Lisa Mantella, Mr. Cinefra and the student began communicating while playing Words with Friends, an online app that allows users to chat with each other. They exchanged cellphone numbers, the prosecutor said, and then began texting.
Their first encounter, Ms. Mantella continued, was when Mr. Cinefra picked the girl up at a friend’s house that summer. She had asked him to buy a bottle of vodka, which he provided, and they had sex in the car.
The two continued to text throughout that summer and into the next school year.
When Mr. Cinefra would sub at Plum, he would text the student to tell her what room he was in, and she would visit him during her study halls. During that time, Ms. Mantella said, they would kiss and touch.
During an interview with police in August 2015, Mr. Cinefra admitted the relationship.
“He knows what he did is wrong,” said defense attorney Patrick Thomassey after the hearing. “It’s devastated his life, but he has to pay the consequences for his actions.
“There’s no excuse for it.”
Judge Cashman allowed Mr. Cinefra to remain free on bond pending sentence. The plea agreement, Mr. Thomassey said, requires his client serve time in state prison.
Mr. Cinefra was the third teacher arrested from Plum for having sexual relationships with students.
Jason Cooper, 39, a former science teacher, is serving 18 to 36 months in state prison after pleading guilty to institutional sexual assault and witness intimidation.
Joseph Ruggieri, 42, a former English teacher, is serving 2 to 5 years in prison after pleading to institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors and intimidation of a witness.
Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2620 or on Twitter @PaulaReedWard.
First Published: November 3, 2016, 3:20 p.m.
