PCHS teacher accused of sexual assault

State Police charged a Pocahontas County High School vocational-agriculture teacher with three felony counts of sexual abuse by a guardian, after a former student accused the teacher of engaging in sexual relations with him in 2013.

State Police Corporal Mark Agee, of the Marlinton Detachment, arrested Sammantha Bartley, 25, of Marlinton, last Tuesday and charged her with three counts of sexual assault by a guardian. Bartley was arraigned in Magistrate Court and released on $15,000 bond.

According to the police report, the former student said he had sex with Bartley three times at the school between April 1 and June 30, 2013, when he was 17 years old. The alleged victim also claimed that, while still a student and following graduation, he had sexual intercourse with Bartley on numerous occasions at her residence until December 2013.

The criminal complaint states that police interviewed Bartley on April 3, when the teacher “confessed to having sexual intercourse with the victim, but denied any sexual intercourse occurring at the high school and while the victim was below the age of 18.” Bartley told police she and the alleged victim “kissed while at school, and held each other but that was it,” according to the criminal complaint.

According to MetroNews, Corporal Agee said Bartley recently came to the Marlinton State Police Detachment and filed a destruction of property complaint against the former student.

“When this young man came in to be interviewed he brought up these allegations,” the trooper is quoted.

On Tuesday, Pocahontas County Schools Superintendent Dr. Donald K. Bechtel refused to provide information on Bartley’s status as an employee, claiming that Bartley’s status is a confidential personnel matter.