Kintnersville, Pennsylvania - Former Palisades High School Teacher, Coach Christian Willman Charged with Sexually Assaulting Student

Former Palisades High Girl’s Soccer Coach Charged with Sexual Assault

A former teacher and girl’s soccer coach at Palisades High School in Kintnersville has been accused of sexually assaulting one of his students and sending sexual texts to another. 39-year-old Christian Howard Willman is charged with sexual assault by a sports official, sexual contact with a student, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor, and other related offenses.

Authorities say that in 2013, Willman allegedly began having inappropriate text conversations with a sophomore student. He allegedly continued sexting the girl until August of 2014 and asked her to come to his house to drink alcohol when his family was out of town.

In April 2017, authorities say that Willman started communicating with another sophomore student through a social media app and allegedly sent that student sexually explicit messages into that student’s junior year. Willman allegedly sexually assaulted the student at Palisades High School in 2018.

Willman was arraigned by District Judge Gary Gambardella on May 14. He is currently being held at Bucks County Prison in lieu of 10 percent of $4 million bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 28.

Justice For Survivors of Sexual Abuse by School Employees

Attorney contributor Guy D'Andrea is a former sex crimes prosecutor who now represents survivors in civil school sex abuse lawsuits. Here are some of his thoughts on how survivors of school employee sex abuse can find justice:

At Abuse Guardian, our team of former sex crimes prosecutors regularly sees cases involving school employees sexually abusing students. Sexual predators often seek out positions in education and other fields that involve working with children from positions of authority and trust. Schools have a responsibility to be aware of the dangers sexual predators pose and to do all that they can to protect their students from these predators.

Some cases of school employee sex abuse involve negligence on the part of the school district. In these cases, the victims and their families may have grounds for a lawsuit. Common forms of school negligence in sex abuse cases include:

• Failure to run a background check and hiring an employee with a history of sexual misconduct
• Ignoring student complaints of sexual misconduct or harassment by an employee
• Failure to report suspected abuse to the authorities

If you or your child is a survivor of sexual abuse by a school employee, you can learn more about your family’s legal options by discussing your case with an experienced sex abuse survivors lawyer.