PITTSBURGH — A third Plum teacher arrested Wednesday is facing intimidation charges after he allegedly identified the victim in a case against a colleague in front of her classmates, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.
Channel 11's Alan Jennings reported that Drew Zoldak, a teacher at the district’s high school, is facing two counts of witness intimidation.
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According to police paperwork, the charges stem from the case against Plum Senior High School teacher Joseph Ruggieri, who is one of two teachers accused of having sex with a student.
Investigators said Zoldak is accused of identifying Ruggieri's alleged victim in front of her classmates.
Zoldak told his students he wasn't in class recently because he was being questioned by authorities, pointed at Ruggieri's alleged victim and said, “because of her,” according to the criminal complaint.
Police said Zoldak then taunted the female student, wanting to know if she was OK with next week’s topic: sexual assault.
According to Mike Manko, spokesman for the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, Zoldak was arrested at the school late Wednesday morning and arraigned a short time later.
"The charges against Zoldak are of great concern to the District Attorney’s Office, because at the very least, they involve conduct which is extraordinarily insensitive to the rights of a child victim by a person who, by virtue of his profession, is obligated to protect that child, and at worst, it is an intentional effort to use this child’s peers and the school setting to make her uncomfortable and keep her from speaking freely about her victimization," Manko said.
With Zoldak’s arrest being the third arrest, the investigation should be considered “expansive and ongoing,” Manko said.
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