A suspended western Pennsylvania high school teacher charged with having sex with an 18-year-old student has been jailed on a witness intimidation charge because police say he has contacted the student and discussed the case with her.
Thirty-eight-year-old Jason Cooper, of Monroeville, was charged again Monday by Plum Borough police.
His defense attorney, Michael DeRiso, didn't immediately return a call Tuesday for comment on the new charge, but has argued the student sex charge is baseless because the girl was 18. But police have said the relationship began when the girl was 17 and that the law dictates that a student cannot legally consent to have sex with a teacher, regardless of the student's age.
Police said the girl's father reported that Cooper called the girl and spoke to her about ``her pending testimony.''
