Man gets probation for drugs in school case

A man who supplied cocaine to his fiancé’s daughter, which she then took to school, was sentenced Tuesday.

WEST CHESTER >> A southern Chester County man who unwittingly supplied cocaine to his fiancé’s daughter, which she then took to school with her lunch money, was sentenced Tuesday to one year of probation.

David Guinan, 37, of London Grove, had in May pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of a controlled substance. In a brief hearing before Common Pleas Court Judge James P. MacElree II he apologized for the matter, saying that he had never intended for the drugs to be found by anyone.

“I regret ever touching this,” Guinan told the judge. “People don’t believe me.”

Guinan was charged by state police after staff and administrators at the Penn London Elementary School in the Avon Grove School District reportedly found a plastic bag with a suspicious white powder inside an envelope that a 7-year-old girl had brought to school with her lunch money inside.

He had initially been charged with endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person, as well as the drug offense. Those charges, however, were withdrawn by the District Attorney’s Office when he entered the plea. Possession of a controlled substance is an ungraded misdemeanor that is punishable by a maximum of 12 months in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Borchik, who prosecuted the case, asked MacElree to impose a short term of jail time in the case, recognizing its serious nature. He said that even though no one had been harmed, including the child, possession of the drugs was still a serious matter. “Nothing catastropic happened,” Borchik told the judge, “but something could have happened.”

Guinan appeared before MacElree with his attorney, Charles Peruto Jr., who asked that his client receive no punishment whatsoever.

“I am not going to do that,” MacElree said before imposing the probationary sentence.

According to the criminal complaint, a cafeteria worker at Penn London Elementary noticed a ziplock bag in the envelope when the child produced it on the morning of Oct. 2 and brought it to the attention of the principal. State police were called and it was determined that the female child — a 7-year-old who unknowingly brought the envelope that contained the substance, came to school that day with her mother, Danielle Stokes, who lives with Guinan.

When police spoke with the mother, she told them that she and her two children have lived with Guinan for less than a year. She added she retrieved the envelope from Guinan’s desk in his office and then placed the child’s lunch money inside.

When police talked with Gui-

nan later in the morning, Guinan told them he had come into contact with the cocaine while he was an employee at Octoraro Tavern about a year ago. He

added that he was “trying to play cop,” but couldn’t explain why he brought it home, and that he forgot he had the substance, the criminal complaint said.

The father of the young girl also spoke at the hearing, saying that he and his family had suffered because of the case. His daughter, he

said, is doing well now, but had been in counseling after the incident.

“We were embarrassed and disappointed,” he said. “This is a very serious matter.”

Guinan will also have to complete 50 hours of community service as part of his sentence.