Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Former teacher gets five years probation after chat with teen
MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> A former Garnet Valley special education teacher was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty Tuesday to possessing an instrument of crime in association with a video call he made to a 2020 high school graduate over the summer.
Derek Spencer Vattelana, 39, of the first block of Brittany Lane in Glenmoore, Chester County, was also ordered to have no contact with the victim by Common Pleas Court Judge G. Michael Green under the negotiated plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp and defense counsel Arthur Donato.
Vattelana was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police troopers in September on charges of possessing an instrument of crime, indecent exposure and open lewdness for allegedly masturbating during a June 27 Snapchat video call with the 18-year-old victim.
The victim told State Trooper Joseph Metzinger during an interview July 7 that she had been Snapchat messaging Vattelana at her boyfriend’s home in Chester Heights when Vattelana requested she video chat with him, according to an affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
The victim said the video showed Vattelana lying down on his back with the phone facing him from below his waist. Vattelana allegedly showed the victim his penis “numerous times” during the conversation, which the victim estimated to have taken at least 15 minutes but could have been closer to half an hour.
Vattelana appeared to be alone and drinking a bottle of beer, according to the affidavit. The victim said he got up once to get a drink from the kitchen, but otherwise remained lying down and that she could see the tip of his penis. She said she had not enticed Vattelana to show her his penis and that it was completely unwarranted, according to the affidavit.
“The victim related it appeared as though he was waiting for her to acknowledge what he was doing, but she did not because she was in shock,” the affidavit says. “She related she kept trying to end the conversation but Vattelana kept trying to get her to talk. Towards the end of the conversation, the victim related that Vattelana was visibly masturbating.”
The victim’s boyfriend also told investigators that he was in the room for the last five minutes of the call, which he estimated was about 10 or 15 minutes long. He briefly said hello to Vattelana and said it appeared he was lying down on a bed, according to the affidavit. At one point the boyfriend said he looked over and saw Vattelana’s screen shaking, the affidavit says. After the call, the boyfriend said the victim became upset and told him she saw Vattelana’s penis multiple times, and that it looked like he was masturbating, according to the affidavit.
During a recorded July 30 interview with Metzinger and Trooper Gregory Janosko, Vattelana allegedly said he believed the video chat only lasted 30 to 60 seconds and that the victim wanted to discuss what had happened during her senior week.
He said he was walking around his apartment, folding laundry and doing dishes during the call, according to the affidavit, but denied masturbating or showing the 18-year-old his penis. When asked if the victim was lying, Vattelana allegedly responded that “maybe in her mind she is telling the truth,” the affidavit says.
“Vattelana stated, ‘With me sitting down, if I had the camera pointed a certain way, maybe she thought she did see it,’ in reference to his penis,” the affidavit says.
Metzinger executed a search warrant on Vattelana’s phone after the interview and found that immediately following the June 26 call, he had viewed a video on Pornhub.com featuring a teenage female.
The affidavit indicated Metzinger was also present for a call between the victim and Vattelana on July 9. The details of that call were not included in the affidavit, but Vattelana allegedly again viewed multiple videos involving teenage women on Pornhub.com after the call was ended, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit identifies Vattelana’s cell phone and his “intent to employ it criminally” as the instrument of crime. The other two charges relate to the alleged nature and content of the call.
Kemp offered the affidavit as proof of the instrument of crime charge. Donato said his client would admit to the facts of the affidavit as they related only to that charge, but not to any facts related to the other counts, which were withdrawn as part of the plea.
Garnet Valley School District Superintendent Marc
Bertrando issued a letter to the community following Vattelana’s arrest expressing “extreme disappointment,” but noting there appeared to be only one victim and that the Vattelana had been placed on admin
istrative leave.
In addition to probation, Vattelana was ordered to surrender his teaching certificate and cannot seek employment in a school setting or volunteer with minors. He is also not to be around minors unaccompanied, except for his own children. If his children have minor guests, however,
Green ordered that Vattelana cannot be left alone with them for any period of time.
Kemp told the judge she had previously spoken to the victim about the proposed plea deal and she had agreed with its terms.
Vattelana declined speaking before the court Tuesday, but Donato said his client has no plans to go back to teaching and has established himself as a self-employed powerwashing contractor.