Joe's all time favorite teacher is his band teacher, Mr. Bickle. This was in yesterday's paper. Joe is VERY upset, poor guy!
Police arrest teacher in sex-with-student case
CONNEAUT — A 25-year-old Conneaut Middle School music teacher appeared in Conneaut Municipal Court Monday afternoon on charges he had sex with a 17-year-old high school student over the past several months.
Jeffrey A. Bickel, 275 Whitney St., faces five counts of sexual battery, a third-degree felony, and one count of disseminating material harmful to juveniles, a fifth-degree felony, according to court records.
Bickel surrendered to authorities Monday afternoon, accompanied by attorney Paul Conn of Youngstown. After a brief hearing before Conneaut Municipal Court Judge Thomas Harris, Bickel went to city jail, where he was booked and fingerprinted.
He was released on a personal recognizance bond, a court spokeswoman said. A preliminary hearing will be held at 11 a.m. May 12.
Each of the sexual battery charges carries a maximum five-year prison sentence and $10,000 fine. The disseminating-material charge carries a maximum one-year prison sentence and $2,500 fine. If convicted, Bickel faces a possible 26-year jail sentence.
Sexual battery charges were filed because the alleged victim is a student in an “institution of higher learning,” where the alleged offender is “a teacher, administrator, coach or other person in authority,” according to a copy of the arrest warrant.
As a condition of his release, Bickel must stay away from all Conneaut schools, including several neighborhoods surrounding Conneaut High School; may not attend any school function in Conneaut or in Ohio; and cannot contact the girl or her family, according to court records.
Conneaut Detective Sgt. Charles Burlingham said police began their investigation after receiving a call from Ashtabula County Children’s Services a few weeks ago.
The Children Services Board contacted police after receiving an anonymous complaint about a Conneaut teacher having sexual relations with a student.
During the course of the investigation, police obtained search warrants late last month. According to court records, officers sought cellular telephone and computer data from Bickel’s home.
Court records do not yet indicate what material — if any — police took from the home.
An affidavit police filed with the court to secure the search warrants provided some information about the investigation. The girl denied having a relationship with Bickel when interviewed at CHS last month by police and a CSB representative, according to the document. One day later, police and the CSB representative spoke with the girl’s parents, and her mother said her daughter admitted she and Bickel had been exchanging calls and text messages and had “sexual relations” in November or December.
None of the encounters occurred on school property, Burlingham said.
The pair had intercourse on “several (occasions),” according to the affidavit. On one occasion, Bickel reportedly sent nude photos of himself via his cellular telephone to the girl, police said in the affidavit.
Bickel is the music teacher at Conneaut Middle School and assistant marching band director, according to reports. He reportedly began working for the Conneaut Area City Schools District last fall.
Police said they believe Bickel was recently placed on leave.
Kent Houston, CACS’ superintendent, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Monday. Earlier, Houston was seen entering a meeting with Burlingham, Conneaut Law Director Lori Lamer and Luke Gallagher, assistant law director.
Prior to the meeting, Gallagher said Bickel’s alleged conduct was reported to school administrators “at some point” late in 2008 but that information was not shared with police or Children’s Services, Gallagher said. State law obliges school officials to contact authorities with such complaints, Gallagher said.
A message left for Conn at his Youngstown office was not returned immediately Monday afternoon.
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