Principal accused of looking the other way while teacher had tryst with student — now he’s facing charges

A Pennsylvania high school principal is in hot water for looking the other way during a teacher’s tryst with a student — claiming he didn’t want to ruin the educator’s career.

Mark Patrick Murphy, 42, principal of Lackawanna Trail High School in Clinton Township, allegedly knew about the illegal affair but failed to report it to Childline, the state’s child abuse hotline, despite several complaints from other faculty members, WBRE-TV News reported .

Murphy was told to stay home and is facing a charge of failing to report the abuse, the outlet said.

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“Dr. Murphy was [placed] on administrative leave on August 27 in response to the Pennsylvania State Police serving a search warrant for school records related to the allegation of a sexual relationship between a Lackawanna Trail teacher and student,” said Schools Superintendent Matthew Rakauskas.

“The district has fully cooperated with the state police and the district attorney’s office throughout this investigation. Since August 27, Dr. Murphy has not acted in the capacity of high school principal.”

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State troopers began investigating the alleged relationship after a concerned parent reached out to police on Jan. 30 about the inappropriate tryst, prompting an investigation.

Investigators learned that several teachers had complained about the relationship, and that Murphy had even interviewed faculty, students and parents about the rumored sexual encounters, WBRE said.

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However, Murphy allegedly just stashed the records in his closet and never called Childline.

As a high school principal, Murphy is a mandated reporter and is required by law to report any suspected instances of child abuse or inappropriate sexual conduct to authorities.

Murphy allegedly told police he did not want to jeopardize the teacher’s career.

He was arrested and charged Tuesday and released on a $10,000 bond.

State police did not provide details of the alleged sexual relationship between the teacher and the student.

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