Spring Garden Township Police accused a York Suburban High School teacher on Monday with having sex with a 17-year-old female student over the summer, according to charging documents.

Michael S. Coy, 41, of Pleasant View Drive, Lower Windsor Township, faces three charges in the case: School - intercourse/sexual contact with a student, corruption of minors - defendant age 18 or above and unlawful contact with a minor - sexual offenses. All the charges are felonies.

Police say the offense occurred on June 1, according to online court dockets.

According to Coy's website, he is a Spanish teacher at Suburban high school, although he is not listed on the district's website.

The charges come about a month after it was announced that police were launching an investigation. This followed the district's reporting of an allegation of "inappropriate behavior" by one of its employees.

In a letter to parents sent out Monday, District Supt. Timothy Williams said that on Feb. 6, the district became aware of the original allegations and immediately contacted police and placed Coy on administrative leave. Coy was hired by the district in August of 2009.

"It troubles me anytime an educator is accused of such a thing," Williams said. "Inappropriate conduct is just something we will not tolerate."

Coy could face termination, depending on the result of an internal investigation and the legal process he faces, Williams wrote.

'Maintains his innocence'

Coy's defense attorney, George Margetas, said Monday that his client is "maintaining his innocence."

"He's not happy that he's being portrayed in the way that he is ... but at some point down the road, we'll have our day in court, and we'll get to put our side of the story forward," Margetas said.

Margetas added that Coy has already secured a job, not in education.

"He's trying to take care of his family ... He's trying to do the best he can," Margetas said.

Asked about the victim, Margetas said that he believed she was a student of Coy's at one point, although he was not sure exactly when.

Coy was arraigned on the charges Monday. He has a preliminary hearing before District Judge Jennifer J.P. Clancy scheduled for April 25.

According to Clancy's office, Coy is free on $25,000 bail and must adhere to three bail conditions: He has to report to a probation officer within two days for supervised bail, he is to have no contact with the victim and he cannot leave the state until the case is resolved.

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'Known location'

According to charging documents, police interviewed the student in February after district administrators reported the alleged sexual contact.

In an interview, the female student told police she engaged in sexual intercourse with Coy in June and that it was not on school property, but at a "known location in Spring Garden Township," documents state.

The student said that "on at least one occasion the contact from meeting one another, through their scheduled meeting, resulted in sexual intercourse,' according to documents.

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The student said the two had set up meeting one another by using their cellphones. A forensic examination of the student's cellphone indicated texts between the two, beginning in April and ending in June, documents state.

Letter to parents

Here is the full text of a letter sent to Suburban parents on Monday:

April 1, 2019

Dear Parents:

The Spring Garden Township Police Department filed charges today against one of our teachers, Mr. Michael Coy, for alleged conduct that occurred off of school property. Immediately upon being informed of the original allegations that led to these charges, the District placed Mr. Coy on administrative leave and contacted appropriate legal authorities on February 6, 2019. Mr. Coy was hired as a high school teacher with the District in August of 2009.

The District takes seriously its legal responsibilities, especially with respect to allegations of misconduct. Part of that responsibility is to thoroughly investigate allegations of misconduct even as other legal authorities conduct their own investigations. Based on the findings of our internal investigation, Mr. Coy’s administrative leave was changed to unpaid leave on March 4, 2019, pending the final outcome of the internal District investigation, outside legal investigations, and/or the criminal investigations that resulted in charges against him.

Should the outcome of the District’s investigation or the investigations of outside authorities, including the police investigation and criminal proceedings, meet the standards contained within the School Code, and/or should Mr. Coy no longer possess the credentials of a professional educator, the District will take appropriate actions to address his employment with the District, up to and including termination.

If you have information that might be helpful to the police department in its investigation, please contact Detective Hott at 717-843-0851.

Please understand that we cannot comment further on this issue or any other issue related to actual or potential personnel actions.

Thank you for your understanding. Please know that we are doing everything we can to ensure an appropriate learning environment for all of our students.

Sincerely,

Timothy P. Williams, Ed. D.

Contact Ted Czech at 717-771-2033.