50°
Freedom High School teacher and girls’ Head Volleyball Coach Christopher Schweikert, 27, was charged with sexual assault by a sports official, corruption of minors, and institutional sexual assault, Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck announced on Friday, Jan. 13.
Schweikert, of Coplay, met his victim during her freshman year, while he was her volleyball coach at both FHS and the East Coast Power juvenile girls’ volleyball team, investigators say.
Schweikert started to text the girl in December 2021, “a few months” before the alleged sex crimes began and continued through the summer after her sophomore year, according to Houck.
“[Schweikert and the victim] would meet at his home in Coplay, hotel rooms in Lehigh County and in Asbury, New Jersey, and a local parking lot in Bethlehem Township,” said Houck.
Schweikert is also accused of giving the girl cocaine and alcohol on several occasions while the two were together.
Meanwhile, a forensic search of Schweikert’s computer and cell phone by the Pennsylvania State Police Laboratory showed “a number of explicit videos of the defendant engaging in multiple sexual acts with the victim,” investigators say.
“The unspeakable trust violation that occurred, not only by a teacher on a student, but by a coach on his player, is reprehensible,” Houck said. “A child is in a particularly vulnerable position when interacting with an adult. Besides the normal position of authority an adult holds in a child’s life, it is further intensified when there is the added dynamic of being a teacher or a coach. These adults hold the lives of these children in their hand."
Schweikert was taken into custody at his home on Friday and held on $1M bail.
A message on the Bethlehem Area School District’s website from Dr. Joseph Roy, Superintendent of Schools, stated, “Student physical and emotional safety is our first priority. The alleged inappropriate behavior violates community trust in our schools, undermines safety, and is illegal, intolerable, and inexcusable.”
“This is a difficult time for all members of the Freedom Family,” Freedom High School Principal Laurie Sage added. “Administrators and counselors are prepared to support students and staff as we work through this distressing news.”
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Inv. Kraemer with the Bethlehem Township Police Department at (610) 814-6473.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Bethlehem and receive free news updates.
