LI Teacher Had Sex With Student On School Trip: Police

SWATARA TOWNSHIP, PA — Joseph A. Gallagher, a former teacher at Bethpage High School, had sex with a teenage student during a class trip to Pennsylvania in May, the Swatara Township Police Department said.

Gallagher, 28, of Smithtown, had sexual relations with the student at a hotel in Swatara Township while on a school trip to Hershey between May 17 and 18, Swatara police said. He was arrested on Friday and charged with institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, obscene materials: dissemination to minors, corruption of minors and criminal use of a communication facility, police said.

Gallagher and the student were allegedly texting about meeting up in his hotel room, which the teen at first said she couldn't do, though Gallagher eventually got her to agree, reported Penn Live according to court documents they obtained. She told police she tried waiting until the other students in her room were asleep, though one girl saw her leaving, court documents alleged. The girl told police the two had sex in Gallagher's room.

He was released on $50,000 unsecured bail, according to a court docket. Gallagher awaits plea court scheduled for Dec. 17, Fox43 reported.

Gallagher was previously arrested in June and charged with sexually abusing a child, the Nassau County Police Department said.