Plum Teacher Accused Of Sex With Student Ordered To House Arrest

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A Plum Area School District teacher accused of having sex with a student has been ordered to house arrest.

A judge said Thursday that 38-year-old Jason Cooper is also not allowed to have internet access while on house arrest.

Cooper is charged with having an inappropriate sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student.

Authorities said after he was arrested and ordered not to contact the victim, he allegedly called the teen and had a 30-minute conversation, during which they talked about her pending testimony in the case.

He also allegedly tried to contact a 17-year-old friend of the victim via a Facebook request, which she rejected. He also allegedly then sent her a text message saying "hey." Prosecutors argued common sense would dictate you don't do that in a case like this. But Cooper's lawyer Mike DeRiso, argued it didn't rise to witness intimidation.

"The whole concept of being on bond, you're not supposed to contact the victim or the witnesses. Mr. Cooper reached out to a former classmate of his, who apparently he had a non-intimate relationship with, as many teachers have relationships with their students," said DeRiso. "He attempted to reach out to her on Facebook and sent her the simple text of 'hey,' both not appropriate, but not a violation of his bond and certainly to make the leap that that is somehow an intimidation of a government witness was I think a stretch today."

Judge Edward Borkowski agreed, but ordered Cooper have no access to the internet or a cell phone at least until his preliminary hearing.

Cooper's hearing comes just a week after another plum teacher, Joseph Ruggieri, was released from jail and put on electronic monitoring with similar restrictions.

But Cooper's attorney says his client didn't break the law because his alleged victim is 18.

"Mr. Cooper is free falling after losing his family, losing his career under the microscope of thousands of people so I think he made a bad decision," said DeRiso. "I don't think it was reason enough to revoke his bond."

A judge said Thursday that if he tries to contact the girl again, he will go to jail.

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