Instructor at local high school charged with institutional sexual assault

Criminal charges were filed against a local high school instructor accused of having inappropriate contact with a minor.

Pennsylvania State Police said an investigation began Monday when troopers received a report about inappropriate contact between an adult and a minor.

During the investigation, troopers identified the accused adult as Daniel Cervone, a JROTC instructor at Laurel Highlands High School.

“We entrust these folks to help us raise our children, to put them through these programs like JROTC to teach them things like duty, integrity, and that trust that we placed in this particular teacher was violated. It’s unacceptable,” Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said.

PSP said Cervone was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor.

“I have seven kids, and I have six of them at Laurel Highlands, so this is a very important case, not just because I have kids there, because there are a lot of our community members that have children there,” Aubele said.

A criminal complaint states the victim told police she had a sexual relationship with Cervone during 2020. She claimed she spent “copious amounts of time” in his office on a “regular weekly basis” and had sex inside the high school once.

The complaint goes on to say that after Cervone was taken into custody, he “confessed to the allegations which were made against him,” including having sex with a student on school property.

“It’s disgust. I mean, we’re talking about our most vulnerable people, our children,” Aubele said. “I can’t think of anything that’s more repulsive than to take advantage of the trust that we place upon a teacher to violate that.”

Cervone’s arrest comes days after a different Laurel Highlands School District teacher was charged with attempted sexual assault, unlawful contact with minors and corruption of minors.

While police said the two are not connected, they said the first arrest helped the alleged victim to come forward against Cervone.

“I’m sure that was kind of the reason she came in, she saw this, she saw somebody else come forward and be a victim and she decided to do the same thing, and obviously if there’s anybody else out there that is a victim, we will take their complaint seriously,” said Sgt. Richard Sizer with Pennsylvania State Police.

Laurel Highlands School District Superintendent Dr. Jesse Wallace III issued a statement on Tuesday, saying the district was only made aware of the allegations against Cervone on Tuesday.

“The District takes the safety and welfare of our students as the highest priority,” Wallace’s statement continues in part. “We have and continue to take all steps necessary to fully train and inform our staff on appropriate staff/student boundaries and relationships. However, this does not lighten the sting of episodes currently under investigation.”

Wallace says the district is cooperating with investigators.

“I can’t stress enough to parents be involved in your child’s life. Make sure you look through their cell phones, their tablets, make sure they’re not sending inappropriate things back and forth, especially, hopefully never to instructors,” said Trooper Kalee Barnhart with Pennsylvania State Police.

The state police investigation is still active, and troopers encourage anyone with information to contact the Uniontown Barracks by calling 724-439-7111.

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