JAMESTOWN —
A former Jamestown teacher avoided trial and this week pleaded guilty to three felony charges on accusations he sent sexually-explicit photos to a pair of students.
By the time Kevin A. DeFrancesco, 29, Pittsburgh, formerly of Greenville, returns to Mercer Common Pleas Court for sentencing he’ll know whether he’ll be labeled a violent sexual predator, under Megan’s Law, for life. A sentencing date has not been set.
On Tuesday DeFrancesco pleaded guilty to unlawful contact with a minor, child pornography and attempted child pornography. Each charge carries a possible sentence of 3 1/2 to 7 years, plus a $15,000 fine.
Twenty-six additional charges were withdrawn in June. At the time Assistant District Attorney Miles Karson said he withdrew the lesser charges to move the case along and pursue the heftiest charges.
DeFrancesco, a social studies teacher and baseball and wrestling coach at Jamestown Area School District, already has lost his teaching license. The Pennsylvania Department of Education suspended it in March.
Police said between Oct. 27 and Dec. 6, 2011, DeFrancesco exchanged more than 300 text messages with a 14-year-old girl, and on Dec. 5 sent another 75 messages to a 13-year-old girl.
He also sent two pictures of his genitals to the 14-year-old. She sent him three nude photos of herself. The girl told police DeFrancesco would start conversations with her about sports or her grandfather, but that it often would progress to a sexual nature. He suggested she masturbate and send him photos.
According to court documents, the girl told police, “He just wouldn’t leave me alone. He wouldn’t stop.”
When the 13-year-old told another teacher about the messages, that teacher confronted DeFrancesco, who initially denied it but then said he “wasn’t wired right,” according to court documents.
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