Ex-aide admits to sex with student

Christine Towers sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in Chester County Prison

WEST CHESTER » A former tutor and coach at Conestoga High School was taken into custody Monday after she pleaded guilty to charges stemming from her improper sexual relationship with one of her students, now a senior at the Main Line school.

Christine Towers, 26, of Phoenixville, began serving an 11½to 23-month sentence in Chester County Prison, a jail stay that was part of a plea agreement negotiated between the prosecution and her defense attorney and presented to a Common Pleas judge. She pleaded guilty to charges of institutional sexual assault and corruption of minors.

Towers, who agreed to surrender her teacher’s license and have no unsupervised contact with minors in the future, said little before being placed in handcuffs and led from Judge Patrick Carmody’s courtroom as members of her family and the victim’s family looked on.

“I want to deeply apologize for my actions,” said Towers, dressed in a gray sweater, black blouse and khaki pants, her blonde hair pulled back in a braid. “I take responsibility for this, and I assure you that this will never happen again.”

Towers must undergo an assessment by the state’s Sexual Offender’s Assessment Board and register with the state as part of the Megan’s Law requirements. She briefly glanced back at her family before she was taken from the courtroom by a deputy sheriff.

Christine Towers