Teacher charged with sex assault

NORRISTOWN » A teacher from Chester County has been charged with sexual assault involving one ofhis students from Germantown Academy.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Whitemarsh Township Police Chief Christopher P. Ward on Thursday announced the arrest of Michael Cheatle, 37, of Chester Springs, on charges of institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor/sexual offenses, corruption of a minor and endangering the welfare of a child.

All the charges are related to a sexual relationship Cheatle had with a female student at Germantown Academy in 2014 and 2015, where the defendant was em-

ployed as a teacher at the time.

The alleged victim, now 23, went to police over the summer, prompting the investigation.

The woman reported to Whitemarsh Township Police on July 29 that in 2014 at the end of her 11th-grade year at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, she and her first-year teacher Cheatle began an 18-month intimate relationship.

The woman told police the relationship began as friendship and later progressed to a sexual relationship.

An investigation was launched that determined through text messages, emails and other evidence that the defendant had engaged in sexual behavior with the minor student both inside and outside of Germantown Academy.

Cheatle resigned his teaching position at the school on Sept. 1. Germantown Academy officials have been fully cooperative with the investigation.

Cheatle was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Deborah Lukens, who set bail at $100,000 unsecured, along with the condition that the defendant not have any contact with children other than his own.

Cheatle was released on his own recognizance. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., Oct. 14, before Judge Lukens.

Anyone with information regarding any inappropriate encounters with the defendant is encouraged to contact White marsh Township Police at 610-825-6530.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Beeson, who is assigned to the Family Protection Unit.

Michael Cheatle was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Deborah Lukens, who set bail at $100,000unsecured, along with the condition that the defendant not have any contact with children other than his own.