Ex-choir director pleads guilty to child endangerment

MAYS LANDING » A former New Jersey elementary school choir teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student twice a week for the past three years has pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child by sexual conduct.

Prosecutors in Atlantic County said 53-year-old Brian McSee’s plea Monday came as part of an agreement in which he is to serve five years in prison. He is scheduled for sentencing May 4.

Defense attorney, Angela Hartman declined comment but said other charges were dropped. McSee was originally charged with aggravated sexual assault, official misconduct, and criminal sexual contact.

Authorities said he was the seventh- and eighthgrade choir teacher at Port Republic Elementary School and choir director at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, where the child’s family attends services. with alcohol.

Pennlive.com says testimony Monday in the preliminary hearing for 11 former members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity focused on deleted video the FBI recovered.

This is the second preliminary hearing for the defendants, required because some charges that were previously dismissed have been refiled and additional charges were added.

The footage shows fraternity brothers handing beers or bottles to pledges, and that continued after pledge Tim Piazza, of Lebanon, New Jersey, appeared to be staggering in the basement.

The hearing will decide if there’s enough evidence to send the case to county court for trial.

Information from: Pennlive.com, http://www.pennlive.com