Elizabeth Forward teacher named in sex complaint
An Elizabeth Forward science teacher has been accused of having a sexual relationship with one of his students on school grounds and giving her access to a school computer, which allowed her to give herself better grades.
Brian S. Brosh, 40, of Hempfield, who teaches high school chemistry and physical sciences, was suspended Sept. 8, the day school officials said they learned of the investigation by Allegheny County Police, according to a letter sent to parents by Superintendent Michael A. Latusek.
Brosh, who began working for the district in 1998, was accused of having the relationship with the woman when she was a 16-year-old student during the 2003-04 school year.
He was arraigned Monday on charges of endangering the welfare of children, sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors and released to await a preliminary hearing scheduled Oct. 8 before District Judge Beth S. Mills in Forward.
Brosh, who was ordered not to have any contact with the girl or witnesses in the case, has not been on high school grounds since his arrest, school spokeswoman Jane Milner said.
"The Elizabeth Forward School District will monitor this situation as it proceeds through the Allegheny County Criminal Court System and will continue to take every action necessary to insure the safety and well being of all of our students," Latusek wrote in a letter that was mailed to parents Tuesday.
The woman, who is now 21, went to Elizabeth Township police on Sept. 5 to say that Brosh, who had been her physical science teacher when she was a junior, had an inappropriate relationship with her at the time.
It is not known what prompted her to go to police.
Township police asked Allegheny County Police to investigate.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman told detectives:
She and Brosh had an increasingly personal relationship while she was in his class. She helped him grade papers and enter scores into his computer and used the computer to alter her grades.
About halfway through the school year, they began kissing and having sexual contact in a storage room.
"(She) stated that she felt pressured to continue her relationship with Brosh because he was one of her teachers, an advisor, mentor and friend and did not want to get him fired," the complaint states.
Brosh, who could not be reached for comment, is the latest in a series of local teachers or school district employees to be accused of or who have gone to trial for inappropriate sexual behavior this year.
A math coach at the Sunnyside School in Garfield was suspended with pay in August pending the outcome of a federal investigation into child pornography found on school computers he was using in his home. There was no indication that any city school students were involved.
Former Moon Area High School gym and health teacher Beth Ann Chester, 27, of Scott was sentenced in August to 1 1/2 to three years in jail after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy.
Abbie Jane Swogger, 35, of Harrison, a former teachers' aide in Highlands, was suspended in May after being accused of having sex and using drugs with teens.
In March, a district judge in Butler County ordered Kevin Johnson, 50, of Portersville to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting two teenage boys. Johnson was a Junior ROTC instructor at Seneca Valley High School.
Upper St. Clair police filed charges in January against Regis Kirby, 48, a Carrick High School art teacher, accusing him of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy during a drinking party at his home in June.
A teacher at the Parkway West Career and Technology Center in North Fayette was charged in February with hugging and kissing two teenage boys at the school. Those charges were dismissed three months later during a hearing before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel.
