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Updated 1 hour ago

A Hempfield Area High School teacher accused of sexually harassing a student was cleared by state police and will return to work this week, district officials said Wednesday.

Superintendent Barbara Marin said the teacher will return to work Thursday after investigations by state police, Children & Youth Services and the school district all found the student's accusations to be unfounded.

“We have been advised that the (district attorney's) office will not move forward with any prosecution,” Marin said in a statement.

The accuser, a female senior at the high school, told school administrators in December that one of her teachers had been sexually harassing her, asking her on dates and questioning her about her sex life going back as far as the 10th grade. The district conducted an internal investigation and made a report to the state's ChildLine Dec. 20. The Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office determined Dec. 21 there had been no criminal conduct.

The student then made a second accusation against the same teacher in early January, which was turned over to state police to investigate while the teacher was put on paid leave pending the investigation's outcome.

The student was temporarily suspended over another matter, but her Facebook page — where she had made several public posts expressing her anger that she later deleted — says she left the district earlier this month.

The student's family, state police and the district attorney's office could not be reached for comment.

Matthew Santoni is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6660 or msantoni@tribweb.com.

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