Melissa Bonkoski, 38, was arrested last week for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old male student
A 38-year-old high school teacher has been arrested for sexually assaulting one of her male students who she became ‘obsessed’ with.
Melissa Bonkoski, who has taught earth science at Pottstown, Pennsylvania’s Owen J. Roberts High School for the past two years, was arrested Thursday and charged with eight felonies.
Those charges include three counts of institutional sexual assault, three counts of unlawful contact with a minor, one count of corruption of minors and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.
According to the criminal complaint, Bonkoski’s history with the victim dates back to December 1, 2015.
The 16-year-old victim, whose name is not being released, reportedly had Bonkoski as a teacher during his freshman year at the school.
The two had kissed and the teacher allowed him to touch her breasts. He also stayed the night at her house, sleeping in the same bed as her, and they discussed having oral sex but never got that intimate.
Investigators said that Bonkoski started sending ‘harassing text messages’ to the teen, who grew uncomfortable with the relationship.
According to the criminal complaint, Bonkoski kissed one of her students at Owen J Roberts High School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and let him touch her breasts
‘He was worried that he wouldn’t get rides home anymore if he stopped kissing [Bonkoski],’ according to the complaint.
Bonkoski reported came ‘obsessed’ with the student, and contacted him using a pre-paid cellphone which she didn’t think could be traced back to her.
‘Whatever you do, please don’t shut me out,’ Bonkoski texted the student in March, according to the Daily Times. ‘I’m begging you.’
It’s unclear how police found out about the affair, but they had no trouble tracking that burner phone back to Bonkoski, in part because it was mostly used at school and at her home.
On July 11, she was brought in for a police interview, during which she admitted to the relationship, and said she ‘thought she was being smart’ by using the burner phone.
After her arrest on Thursday, Bonkoski posted her $80,000 bail herself.
Her school district got wind of the charges the following day and administrators immediately demanded she resign.
‘Upon learning of the filing of these charges, the school district asked for, and received, Bonkoski’s immediate resignation from her employment as a teacher,’ Anthony Costello, the district’s acting superintendent, said.
According to an online profile with the school district, which has since been taken down, she had been working at the school for the past two years. Before that, she taught science in Miami, Florida and before that in West Philadelphia.