Teacher's sex case advances
Silence and mystery continue to surround the sexual assault accusations against a Slippery Rock Middle School math teacher.
Robert P. Willison, 51, appeared at District Judge William O'Donnell's courtroom in Slippery Rock on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing but made no statements during the proceeding. His case will move forward.
After the hearing, his lawyer, Eric David Levin, repeatedly declined to comment on the case while Willison stood by silently.
Following accusations that Willison inappropriately touched the buttocks of four schoolgirls, he was suspended from his position at the school as an eighth-grade math teacher. According to police, Willison's suspension for these charges is his third suspension related to sexual abuse or harassment complaints since 2012. A police investigation was triggered after a complaint in September was filed through ChildLine, the state's avenue for people to report suspected child abuse.
Addressing the charges before the public comment session at the Nov. 21 school board meeting, officials read the following statement: “Pertaining to the criminal charges which were filed against a teacher in our middle school, the district cannot provide any further comment or information because of these pending charges and related personal matters and student involvement, pursuant to board policy 6-1.”
Police say Willison first touched one of the four girls on Sept. 20 during class, after she asked him to help her with homework. Police said the girl reported that Willison got down on his knees near her desk and put his hand on her chair. He then allegedly “swirled and rubbed his thumb” on her rear end for “some time,” according to court documents.
Police say they interviewed a student who sits next to the girl in Willison's class. That student told troopers they had seen Willison touch the girl, and reported that the victim also told them about it after class.
In court documents troopers allege that two 13-year-old girls also reported having similar encounters with Willison in the weeks before the Sept. 20 incident.
In a fourth encounter with another middle schooler, police said, a 14-year-old girl told troopers that Willison also touched her rear end last year, while she was walking out of his classroom.
