Board of education chairman resigns

Harriton rower, said Mr. Wittig took her to a nude beach when she was 17, starting what would become a year-and-a-half sexual relationship. Ms. DeMichele, 53, said she considered it consensual at the time but, given their age difference and the fact that he was her coach, now feels she was coerced.

She said the relationship continued when she went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where she rowed and Mr. Wittig coached. She broke it off her sophomore year. Mr. Wittig resigned from the school in 1984 amid an ombudsman’s investigation into, in part, his relationship with Ms. DeMichele.

Another woman who asked to not be identified told the Inquirer and Daily News that she had a nearly two-year sexual relationship with Mr. Wittig that started when she was 16 and he was 29.

In 1970, when he was 21, Mr. Wittig was charged with raping a 15-year-old friend of his sister’s. On Tuesday, Mr. Wittig said the girl lied because her family was trying to extort money from him. The victim, reached by the Inquirer and Daily News, asked to not be identified but maintained that Mr. Wittig had raped her.

“He got away with it. Of course, I was humiliated. I was unhappy. I’m still unhappy about it,” she said. “But what am I supposed to do when they say he’s not guilty?”

Mr. Wittig, a Republican, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

He remains president of the Board of Education for the Tamaqua Area School District, a position he has held since 1995. Raymond J. Kinder, the district’s superintendent, declined to comment Thursday.

Mr. Wittig was appointed to the state Board of Education by Gov. Tom Ridge in 2001 and made chairman by Gov. Tom Corbett in 2011. Mr. Ridge could not be reached Thursday. Mr. Corbett said he was not aware of the 1970 criminal case at the time that he made the decision.

After being contacted by a reporter, Mr. Wittig on Tuesday sent a letter to the Department of Education saying he no longer planned “on attending nor participating as a member of the State Board of Education.” Mr. Wolf’s office said he also spoke that day with Pedro Rivera, the department’s secretary.

Although Mr. Wittig did not officially offer to step down in the letter, Mr. Wolf’s office said it is considering it and his conversation with Mr. Rivera as a resignation.

“Your resignation is accepted and effective upon its receipt,” Eric Gutshall, Mr. Wolf’s secretary of intergovernmental affairs, wrote in a letter to Mr. Wittig on Thursday.