Photo: Bethlehem Police Department
A Pennsylvania school resource officer and co-ed soccer coach is accused of pressuring a 14-year-old student into a sexual relationship and molesting her during a school dance that he was chaperoning.
Costas Nick Alestas, 43, was charged with statutory sexual assault, institutional sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, criminal use of a communications facility and invasion of privacy in relation to the incident, as well as another in which he allegedly snuck an up-the-skirt video of an 11-year-old girl as she was walking down the hallway at East Hills Middle School, the Bethlehem Police Department announced in a news release shared on its Facebook account Wednesday (May 15).
The teenager initially reported Alestas' alleged abuse to a guidance counselor last month, according to officials. The girl's mother had previously discovered several lewd messages shared between her daughter and Alestas, who attempted to avoid police by using a second phone number, according to the department.
“There was deceptive behavior trying to mask who the text messages were from,” Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said during a press conference via the New York Post.
The teenager told investigators that Alestas gave her his personal number when they were on the school's campus.
“The communication with Alestas included conversations about engaging in sexual acts. As the communication between Alestas and the victim continued, the interactions progressed into several encounters involving sexual contact between the two,” the Bethlehem Police Department said in a release.
Encounters between Alestas and the victim allegedly occurred during the school day in his office, as well as inside his car after school, according to police. One specific incident allegedly took place “during a school dance while Alestas was on duty and in police uniform," which was the same day he allegedly filmed the video of the 11-year-old victim found by investigators during a search through his phone.
Alestas reportedly had 4,980 messages and 49 phone calls exchanged with the 14-year-old since March 26, according to a police affidavit obtained by Lehigh Valley News. The suspect was a six-year veteran of the Bethlehem Police Department prior to his arrest.
“There was no indication that this was going on or that this individual had engaged in any of this behavior. He was well-liked at the school. He had received awards of merit and the past. So this comes as an absolute shock and surprise,” Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said.
Alestas was immediately placed on administrative leave upon being charged. The incident marks the second involving a school resource officer in Northampton County having an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student in recent weeks after former Easton Area High School officer John Smoke was found to have “sent explicit photos to an underage student," the New York Post reports.