Dover school officials ‘took the law into their own hands’ as abuse went on
In this file photo, Matthew Puterbaugh walks to the York County Judicial Center for two formal arraignments. Puterbaugh, 51, of Dover Township, is serving 15 years in federal prison for production of child pornography. (York Daily Record)
Four students at Dover Area Intermediate School complained about their music teacher, Matthew Puterbaugh, in 2000.
The girls had taken issue with his “harsh language,” “harsh physical approach” and “too familiar physical approach,” which included rubbing their legs and backs. The behavior, they reported, made them feel uncomfortable.
Stock and Leader, a law firm in York that served as the school district’s solicitor, conducted an investigation that involved meeting with the students. Later, Puterbaugh told his side of the story — and a letter from the superintendent was placed in his personnel file.
Puterbaugh was “instructed to refrain from any further behaviors that would cause his students to feel uncomfortable.” No one from the school district contacted law enforcement or the district attorney.
It’s a story that would play out over and over again:
- In 2002, a student told two teachers that she had intimate contact at her home with Puterbaugh.
- Next, in 2004, that girl described to another teacher what sounded like “a dating relationship” with Puterbaugh.
- Then, in 2010, Puterbaugh was reprimanded for “having contact with students via text messages that school officials felt were inappropriate.”
Meanwhile, Puterbaugh went on to victimize more students by secretly taking inappropriate pictures of them.
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