According to state police, the principal at Lackawanna Trail High School is facing charges for failing to report an alleged teacher-student relationship.
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating 42-year-old Lackawanna Trail High School principal Mark Patrick Murphy for failing to report a relationship between a teacher and a high school student to “Childline,” a state-run program that reports child abuse.
According to police, on January 30, a concerned parent from Lackawanna Trail High School notified troopers about claims of a sexual relationship between a teacher and a student.
The state police claimed that, after further investigation, they discovered that other teachers had submitted these complaints to Murphy. Murphy instructed teachers not to notify “Childline” and said he would investigate the information himself, as stated in the affidavit.
According to court filings, Murphy shouted at one instructor for indicating she was going to report it to “Childline,” threatening to “ruin the teacher’s life.”
Investigators discovered Murphy interviewed instructors, students, and parents and documented the encounters after obtaining a search warrant for school documents. Troopers believe he then stored them in his office closet.
