SUNBURY - A former teacher's aide at Shamokin Area Middle-High School is expected to spend at least three months in county prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to a felony of institutional sexual assault.
Amanda Dreher, 29, of 1761 Tioga St., Coal Township, who is accused of having sexual intercourse with an 18-year-old male at the high school, entered the plea accepted by Northumberland County Judge Charles Saylor that calls for a standard range prison sentence of three to 12 months. The maximum sentence for the offense is seven years incarceration and/or $15,000 fine.
Dreher, who was represented by county public defender John Broda, told the judge she understood the ramifications of entering the plea rather than seeking a trial and politely answered several questions posed by Saylor.
The judge told Dreher she must register as a Megan's Law offender for 25 years and undergo an evaluation by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board to determine if she's a violent sexual predator.
The judge ordered a pre-sentence investigation and is scheduled to sentence Dreher within 90 days. Two additional felony counts of institutional sexual assault will not be prosecuted at sentencing.
Assistant district attorney Michael Seward, who represented the commonwealth at the pre-trial conference, said he wasn't surprised by the defendant's guilty plea.
Broda and Dreher, who was accompanied to the conference by an unidentified male, declined comment about the plea agreement.
Dreher, who was previously ruled ineligible for a public defender because of her income, was granted a public defender by President Judge William H. Wiest at an Aug. 25 legal proceeding after she told him she no longer had a job and was in the process of getting a divorce.
Dreher, who remains free on $5,000 recognizance bail, is charged by Coal Township Detective Jeff Brennan with having sex with the student in the school three times between the beginning of January and the end of February.
She resigned from her teacher's aide position in April. She had held the position for approximately one year.
According to a criminal complaint, Dreher is accused of engaging in sexual intercourse with the student, who was not identified by police. The victim, who was a senior at the time, told police two of the sexual encounters occurred in the boys' locker room at the swimming pool.
Brennan said the investigation began March 19 when he was contacted by Shamokin Area Middle-High School Principal Chris Venna about allegations of inappropriate contact between Dreher and the student.