Crime & Safety
Falls Twp. Teacher's Aide Sexually Assaulted Student, DA Says
The underage student told authorities he and the Valley Day School aide had sexual intercourse three times after messaging on an app.
FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA — A Falls Township teacher’s aide has been charged with sexual assault after authorities said she had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student.
Jennilynne M. Derolf, 38, a teacher's aide at Valley Day School, was charged Thursday in an investigation that began Tuesday. That day the Falls Township Police Department received a report of sexual assault from the student's grandmother, who had discovered their relationship.
When interviewed, the student told detectives that he and the teacher's aide began their relationship with messaging each other discreetly on an app, and then meeting at Falls Township Park. He said their meetings became romantic in early June.
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The student told detectives that he and Derolf had sexual intercourse three times in July, according to the District Attorney's office.
The age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16; intercourse with someone younger is considered statutory sexual assault.
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"The defendant’s conduct is not only reprehensible, but criminal," District Attorney Matt Weintraub said. "She not only violated the trust required in any student teacher relationship, but also that trust that children should be able to have in all adults of authority."
Derolf was charged with felony counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault, and institutional sexual assault. She was also charged with misdemeanor counts of indecent assault and corruption of minors.
She was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Jan Vislosky and was sent to Bucks County Correctional Facility under 10 percent of $900,000 bail.
The case was investigated by Falls Township Detectives Stephen Reeves and John Vella and has been assigned for prosecution to Deputy District Attorney Matthew Lannetti.
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