Raymond Szczerba
Raymond Szczerba, a Westlake High School science teacher in the Mt. Pleasant School District, was arrested on June 7 in Stamford, CT, and according to media reports, was charged with attempted sexual assault and enticement of a minor.
Szczerba was quickly placed on administrative leave by the school district pending the outcome of his case. He was also removed from the school district’s social media posts.
Szczerba was a co-advisor of the Westlake High School’s Science Olympiad Team, which was highlighted by the school district for their recent success. Now, parents and other students are concerned about what else Szczerba might have done at Westlake HS.
Szczerba, 45, was listed as an Earth Science, Environmental Science and Oceanography teacher.
News 12 reported that “Court records show Raymond Szczerba was arrested Sunday.” June 7, but because the arrest was made in Connecticut, we have been having trouble obtaining the police report or court complaint to provide more details.
According to the law firm of Ruane, “Enticing a minor is considered a sex crime in the state of Connecticut. This crime is governed by Connecticut General Statute § 53a-90, which defines enticing a minor as a situation where a person uses some sort of computer service to knowingly persuade, entice, or coerce any person under the age of 18 years old to engage in prostitution or another sexual activity that the person knows is a crime. It is important to note that in order to commit the crime of enticing a minor, a person must know that the other party is under the age of 18, and knowingly coerce them into a sexual act anyway. If, for example, you asked a person over an online chat how old they were, and they told you 21, you could use this as a defense to the crime. You were under the impression that the other party was over the age of 18, and therefore did not knowingly commit this crime.”
