The case of one of the most recent female public high school teachers who was arrested for allegedly having sex with an underage student has taken an incredibly bizarre turn.
The teacher is Allison Marchese. Until her arrest earlier this month, she taught at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, Conn., a genteel coastal suburb.
Marchese, 37, performed an unspecified sex act on a 17-year-old male student, according to court records obtained by New Haven ABC affiliate WTNH.
The incident unfolded in the teacher’s classroom right in the middle of the school day, court records say. Marchese asked the student to stop by. He did. She locked the classroom door behind him. She closed the blinds.
The events leading up to the star-crossed sexual encounter included the requisite exchanges of indecent photos on social media beforehand.
After the in-school rendezvous was over, police say, the 17-year-old student “freaked out.” He then concocted a plan to blackmail Marchese. For $200, court records say, he would keep quiet about the forbidden classroom love.
Marchese did not react compliantly. Instead, police claim, the 37-year-old high school teacher (from Canada) threatened the student concerning her father’s “mafia ties,” the Daily Mail reports.
Specifically, cops say, Marchese told the student he “would never play football again” if he squealed.
Marchese faces charges of second-degree sexual assault as well as a charge called risk of injury or impairing the morals of a child. (RELATED: Hot Thirtysomething Teacher Busted For Victimizing Student With Sex Trauma)
The teacher’s attorney, William Dow, blamed local media for lurid interest in his client’s story.
“The problem is you guys,” Dow said, according to WTNH. “The media will make something of this that it’s not. You’ve got to remember this is a young woman with a family. The complainants have families and concerns of their own, and this will just run wild because of you guys here.”
Indeed, Marchese’s family situation is currently dim. She and her husband, Robert Marchese, have recently filed for divorce.
Marchese told police that his wife had become fixated on “social media and working out” in recent months, notes the Mail.
Robert Marchese also said he clandestinely made an audiotape which provides evidence of Allison Marchese’s involvement with the 17-year-old student. There is also evidence concerning a second, 15-year-old male student. The interaction with the second, younger student allegedly included only racy photos.
Local police now have that audiotape, according to WTNH.
Allison Marchese is currently free on a $100,000 bond. Local authorities have seized her Canadian passport.
As far as her taxpayer-funded teaching position, Marchese remains on paid administrative leave.
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