PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A middle school teacher in Montgomery County has been arrested after police say he tried to sexually assault one of his students on a field trip.
On Monday, Norristown police responded to reports from the principal and school resource officer at Blockson Middle School about 57-year-old John Richards, of Newtown Square, making inappropriate contact with one of his eighth-grade students.
Investigators said Richards called a 13-year-old girl to his desk in the back of his classroom and showed her a typed-out message on his phone, saying he would like to “kiss her two times” during an upcoming field trip he was chaperoning.
Officials said the girl immediately contacted her father, the principal and the school resource officer.
Investigators later found a second message from Richards apologizing to the girl but still expressing a desire to kiss her.
Richards turned himself in Wednesday morning. He is charged with attempted institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and other offenses.
He is being held on $10,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week.