A former Highlands School District teacher is charged with sexually assaulting and extorting two young students at his Brackenridge home.
Sean M. Dicer, 53, is accused of assaulting the boys, who are now 16, when they were 11 and 12 years old, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.
One of the boys, who told police he met Dicer at a park when he was 8, said he was assaulted at least 10 times, according to the complaint. Dicer acted as a father figure to him growing up, the complaint said.
Police said the alleged assaults occurred during the summer of 2021 at Dicer’s home.
When one boy said he would tell people what happened after the summer was over, Dicer apologized and said he would give the boy “anything he wanted,” according to the complaint.
Police said Dicer paid one of the boys more than $6,000 via Cash App since 2022 to perform sexual acts. The boy provided police with proof of payments, investigators said.
The investigation began on Nov. 7 when Tarentum police forwarded to Allegheny County Police a report made to ChildLine, the state’s child abuse hotline, by a 16-year-old boy claiming he had been abused several years earlier by Dicer.
Over the next several days, police interviewed both boys.
Police arrested Dicer on Thursday and took him to the Allegheny County Jail.
He is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault, two counts each of institutional sexual assault and sexual extortion and numerous counts of corruption of minors.
A district judge denied bail. Dicer is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec. 17, according to online court records.
In addition to his role as a teacher, Dicer was known in the community for his photography of local youth sporting events.
According to his Facebook page, Dicer indicated he was from San Diego and studied education at Indiana Wesleyan University, the Community College of Allegheny County and Point Park University.
Dicer taught at Highlands until 2022, when he resigned, according to Superintendent Monique Mawhinney.
Mawhinney declined to say how long Dicer was employed or what subjects and grades he taught.
A 2014 TribLive article indicates Dicer was a teacher at the district’s Grandview Upper Elementary School at that time. Oct. 21, 2019 school board meeting minutes reflect Dicer was appointed middle school cast manager/costume coordinator sponsor during the 2019-20 school year.
Mawhinney also would not tell TribLive when the district became aware of the allegations or whether Dicer had ever been disciplined or had been accused of inappropriate conduct.
Mawhinney said the district could not comment on “specific personnel issues.”
The state Department of Education reflects Dicer’s teaching status as retired and lists no disciplinary history.
Staff writer Kellen Stepler contributed to this report.
