MONESSEN, Pa. – A suspended high school teacher accused of assaulting a teenager and of encouraging male students to view online pornography in class was sentenced to three years probation.
As part of the Jan. 5 plea bargain, Joseph Fischer, 35, was also ordered to resign his teaching position, surrender his state teaching certificate, have a mental health evaluation (search) and have no contact with the assault victim.
Fischer, a former football coach, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of simple assault and possession of explicit sexual materials. Several felony charges, including endangering the welfare of children (search) and criminal use of a computer, were dismissed.
A phone number for Fischer could not be obtained Tuesday, and it was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.
Fischer was suspended after school officials began investigating allegations that he roughed up a student in December 2003. During that investigation, other allegations surfaced that Fischer was showing pornographic Internet images to students.
Officials said still pictures and pornographic images were found stored on Fischer's classroom computer.
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