SUNBURY - A criminal motion hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon to address issues in the case of a former substitute teacher at Shamokin Area School District charged with sending sexually graphic text messages to four females was continued.
The continuance was granted by Northumberland County President Judge Robert B. Sacavage at the request of Attorney Marc Lieberman of Elysburg, who is representing Michael S. Zack, 24, of 201 Warsaw St., Marion Heights.
Lieberman submitted the continuance Oct. 24, pending plea negotiations with his client. The county district attorney's office did not oppose the continuance. No new court date has been set for the case.
Zack was charged by Coal Township Detective Jeff Brennan with felonies of sending obscene and other sexual materials and having unlawful contact with a minor, and a misdemeanor of corruption of minors.
The felony offenses each carry a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and/or $15,000 fine. The corruption of minors charge carries a maximum penalty of five years incarceration and/or $10,000 fine.
Zack was charged March 15 in connection with incidents that occurred between March 15, 2011, and Oct. 30, 2011, in the east end of the township and Shamokin Area Middle/High School.
Zack is accused of sending approximately 4,300 text messages to two 17-year-old females and two 16-year-old girls, all of whom attended Shamokin Area at the time. Many of the messages depicted sexually graphic material, police said.
Zack, who voluntarily turned himself over to authorities, is free on $20,000 unsecured bail.
At his preliminary hearing, Zack was ordered by Magisterial District Judge John Gembic III to avoid all contact with the victims and witnesses in the case and abide by other supervised bail conditions.
Zack was hired as a 180-day substitute teacher in the district in August 2011 and terminated by the school board at its December meeting, retroactive to Nov. 16, 2011.
In August, Zack was expected to enter a guilty plea in the case, but decided against it after First Assistant District Attorney Ann Targonski amended a subsection of one of the charges on the original criminal complaint filed against him that would require him to register as a Megan's Law violator for a minimum of 10 years if he plead guilty to the charge or was convicted of the offense. Targonski said the amendment would not alter sentencing guidelines.