Freedom teacher gets new charges in camera drug case

FREEDOM, Pa. — A former western Pennsylvania high school teacher who police say was caught on a hidden camera doing drugs in his office and offering them to a student faces more charges now that lab tests have confirmed the substance was the painkiller Percocet.

The attorney for 41-year-old James Summers was in trial Thursday and not immediately available for comment on the new drug possession charge filed Wednesday.

Summers was charged after school officials installed a hidden camera in the physical education teacher's office at Freedom Area High School as part of an internal investigation.

The video allegedly showed Summers, of Darlington, crushing and inhaling a pill, and preparing a crushed pill for a student.

Summers had been a teacher in the district since 2000. He faces a preliminary hearing Feb. 22.

WPXI