Tiffany Leiseth, Married Substitute Teacher, Accused of Sex With 2 Students
Tiffany Leiseth, a married substitute English teacher in Pennsylvania's New Brighton Area School District, allegedly had sex with two of her students just hours after the school year ended. The 26-year-old teacher was arraigned Monday for allegedly inviting the boys back to her Moon Township home on two separate days for sex while her husband was away on a business trip.
Tiffany Leiseth's alleged trysts with both boys were discovered because of rumors at the school that she had sent them nude photos. One teacher overheard boys discussing the photos on May 30, while two other people called the district superintendent about the nude pictures.
"They had a rumor that a school teacher was sending nude photographs of herself to two male students," Police Chief Leo McCarthy of Moon Township told WPXI news. "They followed up on that rumor and they found those students, and they found the nude photographs, and they identified the teacher."
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Although the teens initially denied having sex with Leiseth, they eventually admitted to investigators that she had invited them separately to her house on the last day of classes and the day after, respectively. In both instances, she gave the 18-year-old seniors beer before having sex with them.
The teens were no longer in her English class— Leiseth began teaching as a substitute in middle school for 2012-2013 and started a long-term substitute job for the high school for the 2013-2014 academic year— but Brighton's superintendent still considers it an inappropriate student-teacher relationship.
"The superintendent in New Brighton told us 'those kids are our students until they walk across that stage and get that diploma,'" Chief McCarthy explained. "Therefore, they were still students, so [institutional sexual assault, a third-degree felony] applies."
Leiseith has been fired by the school district, who was sure to state that they "provided complete cooperation with all involved agencies in the matters that were reported."
Leiseth was charged with two felony counts of sexual contact with a student and one count of providing alcohol to a minor. She could not be charged for the nude photographs she sent to the young men because they were of age.
The young teacher along with her attorney Mike Derisio plan to fight the charges, though.
"She was not their teacher at the time, and they were not her students. My client did not pursue those boys. They are adults. They make their own decisions," Derisio told KDKA.
However, parents are glad that Leiseith was fired after being placed on unpaid leave during the initial investigation.
"Set the example for any other teachers or administrators that have any thoughts of doing anything like that. You're going to be brought up on charges and prosecuted," Howard Yellock, a parent, told WPXI.
