Posted on 04/06/2006 6:01:38 AM PDT by Nextrush
Former high school English teacher Robin Winkis quietly pleaded Wednesday to charges she had sex with two male students last year.
Winkis, 30, resigned her position at Central York High School, where she had taught for five years, in December after she was charged by York City Police.
In a plea agreement with the York County District Attorney's Office, Winkis pleaded guilty to two counts each of corruption of minors and unlawful contact with minors and one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor. She also pleaded no contest to two counts of indecent assault.
All of the charges are misdemeanors.
According to statements in York County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday, Winkis had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy from January through November 2005 and a 17-year-old in October and November 2005. The contact took place in Winkis' car, her apartment in the first block of West Market Street and a hotel room, police reports said.
Winkis, who remains free on $20,000 bail for the two cases, quietly answered. "Yes, your honor," when Judge Stephen P. Linebaugh asked her if she understood her rights.
The plea agreement calls for five years probation on the corruption charges. The sentences for the remaining charges are to be determined by Linebaugh but will be no more than the maximum county prison sentence of two years minus one day.
The maximum sentence for all charges combined would be 25 years in state prison.
Winkis' sentencing was deferred until June 22 to allow the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board to determine if she is a sexually violent predator and subject to lifetime registration and neighborhood notification.
Beyond pleading to the charges, Winkis offered Linebaugh no details of her crimes. She declined to comment as she left the Judicial Center with her attorney, Terrence McGowan.
Executive prosecutor David Cook, of the District Attorney's Crimes Against Children unit, said some of the charges initially filed against Winkis were merged at her preliminary hearing in January.
Cook said he had no reservations about calling the two teenagers to testify against Winkis.
"But if we can reach a fair resolution sparing them from having to testify about those intimate details, then it is appropriate," he said. "For anyone to take the stand and testify about their sex life is uncomfortable."
OTHER CASES
Other former or suspended area school employees are awaiting court action on charges of improper relationships with students:
Northern Middle School math teacher, John E. Neumyer Jr., who police allege had sexual contact and an ongoing Internet affair with a 13-year-old female student last year.
Former York County School of Technology cabinetmaking teacher Scott A. Bruck, who is accused to soliciting a 17-year old female student to make a pornographic film with him.
Edward Fullum III, a Hannah Penn Middle school gym teacher, who police allege touched four female students in classes in 2004.
Former Littlestown track and cross country coach Eric Daniel Johnson, who is accused to having sex with two female students in 2005.
Chip in with your ideas.
Some details on Winkidinks highjinks:
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Police: Teacher had sex with boy
A female Central York High teacher was charged with corrupting a minor, a 17-year-old student.
By CARYL CLARKE
Daily Record/Sunday News
At bottom: · CORRUPTING A MINOR
Dec 8, 2005 — A female English teacher at Central York High School has been arraigned on charges stemming from an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student that police said included giving him alcohol once before sex.
Robin Winkis, 29, of the first block of West Market Street in York, had taught at the school five years, said attorney Mike King, the solicitor for Central York School District.
The alleged relationship came to administrators' attention in mid-November, King said, and the district launched an investigation immediately.
"When it turned up credible evidence, the teacher was suspended," King said.
He declined to say whether Winkis continues to be paid.
Winkis had coached Central's girls' varsity soccer team for the past three years.
The district notified the district attorney, who turned the case over to York City Police because Winkis lives in the city, King said.
District Justice Barbara Nixon arraigned Winkis on Monday on five counts of corruption of minors for five alleged sex acts during October and November, and one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor. Conviction for corruption of a minor, a first-degree misdemeanor, carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Winkis could not be reached for comment.
York Police Det. Dana Ward prepared the affidavit, which states Winkis kept in touch with the student through e-mails, instant messages and cell phone text messages. They had sexual intercourse four times in her apartment, according to the affidavit, and she once gave him "an alcoholic beverage" before sexual activity.
She drove to the boy's Manchester Township home once, had him sneak out and they "engaged in sexual contact" in her car, according to the affidavit.
Winkis is free on $10,000 bail. No preliminary hearing has been set.
Winkis taught English IV, English II and Honors English II, according to her page at the school district's Web site. It was last updated Nov. 1.
Winkis is the second female teacher from York County to be charged in the past month with corruption of minors for an alleged sexual relationship with a student.
Eastern Adams Regional Police allege Erica Rutters, 29, of Dover Township, who taught at the Oxford Christian Academy in New Oxford, wrote sexually explicit letters and had sex with a 16-year-old student.
Rutters' preliminary hearing before District Justice John Zepp of Adams County is set for 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. Her attorney, J. Michael Sheldon of Harrisburg, said Rutters is innocent and has said she will waive the hearing.
CORRUPTING A MINOR
Pennsylvania law deals differently with allegedly victimized students who are 16 and older and those who are younger than 16.
A Central York High School teacher faces charges of corrupting a minor, which is a first-degree misdemeanor.
If the alleged victim is younger than 16, the charge of statutory rape, a second-degree felony, would apply.
State legislators were not considering teachers when they fashioned the penalties, said Mark Bergstrom, executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. After all, teachers are mandated to report suspicions of abuse against children. The General Assembly was looking at situations involving two students, Bergstrom said.
Kevin Harley, spokesman for the state attorney general, mentioned a law that applies to state and local employees who are responsible for prisoners. If a person with that authority sexually assaults a prisoner, the person can be charged with institutional sexual assault, which is a third-degree felony.
The law was written with law enforcement in mind, Harley said. It does not apply to teachers.
Teacher Colleges must be offering "Student Seduction 101" these days.
Teaching - the pedophile profession
More naughty teachesr for you
maybe these are hot but i doubt it..but looks dont matter its the fantasy
What I don't understand is this:
Has this always gone on, and it's just now coming to the public eye more? Or-are only pedophiles going into the teaching profession anymore? I'm thinking probably a bit of both!
Useless without pictures. How are we to know if she is guilty?
Hear, hear!
Sorry, none I am aware of yet.
From what I understand, there is credible evidence against this woman? I cannot believe anyone would be so stupid, just for a little nookie.
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