Teacher accused of inappropriate communication with student appears in court

MOUNT LEBANON, Pa. — The Mount Lebanon teacher suspended for accusations that he sent inappropriate text messages and pictures to a student appeared in court Monday.

According to police, Jason Greenwalt sent sexually explicit test messages, including a picture of himself in a Speedo.

The victim told police that Greenwalt started sending the messages to him in 2010, during his sophomore year in high school.

Greenwalt was charged with corrupting the morals of a minor, unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a telephone.

His attorney Phil DiLucente said that the text messages were misinterpreted.

“These allegations are just that, allegations that are of a texting nature, and texting does not bring rise to criminality, it’s simply texting,” said DiLucente.

Police said Greenwalt also communicated with the student using a social networking application called Grindr.

“I want to be very clear. At no point in time did Jason Greenwalt ever attempt or have sex with any student whatsoever,” said DiLucente. “He's not somebody who's out there as a predator. He's simply someone who was teaching color guard and he happened to become friends with a student"

WPXI