The Wilkes-Barre Area School Board terminated Coughlin High School math and industrial arts teacher Brian Hampel, 44, for allegedly serving as a lookout for Stephen Stahl, who was convicted in January 2015 of having sex with a 16-year-old student in 2004, The Citizen's Voice reports.
Hampel, who had taught in the district since 1998 and ended with an annual salary of $84,001, has denied any knowledge of Stahl's relationship with the girl.
Accusations against Hampel first surfaced in testimony during Stahl's trial last year, and school officials later contracted with Scranton attorney Frank Tunis to conduct an investigation into whether school employees were aware of Stahl's crimes. Hampel's termination is the result of that investigation, WTAE reports.
Stahl, 49, was the dean of students and wrestling coach at Coughlin High School when he was suspended in February 2014 and fired a month later, the Times-Leader reports.
According to the news site:
Police had said he and the victim, then a 10th-grade student, began a sexual relationship that spanned more than a year, beginning in March 2004 and ending sometime prior to November 2005, when she told Stahl the relationship had to end.
The victim, who came forward nearly a decade after the relationship occurred, had told police that Stahl asked for her phone number and that the two later engaged in sexual intercourse at several locations, including a classroom closet during school hours.
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