SAXONBURG, Pa.,None — A retired teacher from the Freeport Area School District in Butler County is charged with trading drugs and other items for sex with teenage girls.
Investigators said Joe Peresie, 66, of Jefferson Township, pursued two girls with drugs and alcohol and gave them clothes and cell phones in exchange for sex at his home.
Peresie denied the charges following a court hearing Wednesday, telling Channel 11 News reporter Amy Marcinkiewicz the girls were his friends and he did nothing inappropriate.
"Absolutely not; they were my buddies," he said. "I love them all."
According to new charges filed, police said they found three peepholes in Peresie's bedroom that led to the bathroom. Police said he was capable of viewing, recording or photographing the teens. Investigators said they also found child pornography.
"In past experience, that is a grooming method suspects, such as this, do to befriend the children," said Bob McGraw of the Pennsylvania State Police.
Peresie, who taught typing for more than 30 years at the Freeport Area School District, has a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 7.
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