A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m. April 10 in the case of a teacher from Council Rock High School North in Newtown Township accused of sex crimes against a minor.
Steven Allan Struzinski, 42, of Plumstead, has been charged with attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and attempted unlawful contact with a minor after allegedly arranging to engage in unlawful sexual acts with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old boy at a Buckingham Township park on May 23, 2022.
According to court documents, Struzinski has posted the required 10 percent of $250,000 bail, or $25,000, and his preliminary hearing — unless waived or continued — will be held in the Doylestown court of District Judge Maggie Snow.
Struzinski has been placed on administrative leave by the Council Rock School District while investigations by the district and law enforcement authorities proceed, district Superintendent Andrew Sanko indicated in a letter sent out to the community on Thursday and available for view on the Council Rock website, crsd.org. No further information was available from the district on Friday.
A criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause from Buckingham Officer James E. Crusemire states that on March 1 of this year, a witness identified in the documents only as CW1 entered Buckingham police headquarters to file a report regarding a male who engaged in unlawful contact with a purported minor.
Neither the complaint nor affidavit shed any light on why the witness waited more than nine months to contact police. Buckingham police referred all questions to the Bucks County District Attorney’s office, where officials said they couldn’t comment.
“That was not detailed in the criminal complaint and we can only comment on what is in the criminal complaint,” DA spokesman Manuel Gamiz wrote in an emailed response.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the witness posing as a 13-year-old boy engaged in a “texting relationship” with an adult later identified as Struzinski from May 20 to May 23 of last year. Before that, the relationship had started on the social media app Grindr where individuals meet in order to engage in romantic and/or sexual relationships, the document stated.
One of the first Grindr exchanges had Struzinski putting out a message he was looking for oral sex. According to the affidavit, the witness reiterated to Struzinski at several points that he was 13.
“Wow, you look older,” Struzinski replied during one exchange while also asking the witness whether he liked older men. “Yes, I guess,” CW1 responded.
Another back-and-forth has the witness asking “You don’t care if I’m 13, right?” and Struzinski responding “If you’re cool, I’m fine with it.”
The affidavit stated that as May 23, 2022 got closer and the two were arranging to meet on that date at George Bush Park in Buckingham, CW1 asked Struzinski what they would do when they met and Struzinski went into a very detailed description of the sexual acts he could perform on the purported 13-year-old when they met, including oral sex.
The affidavit continued that on May 23 “Struzinski arrived at George Bush Park to meet CW1, who he believed was a 13-year-old boy, to engage in sexual activity.
CW1 stayed in continuous contact with Struzinski up to and including his arrival to the park. Upon arriving, Struzinski stated to CW1 that he had just pulled into the park and was operating a black vehicle. CW1 asked Struzinski to park near the pavilion where he was waiting. CW1 observed a black 2022 Nissan Pathfinder park by the pavilion and he was then notified by Struzinski that he was there. A witness took a photo of the vehicle and its registration plate. Your affiant ran the registration plate in the photo and confirmed that it was registered to Struzinski.
“After the picture was captured, the black vehicle was observed quickly leaving the area. Your affiant believes Struzinski attempted to engage in an unlawful contact with a minor due to the explicit conversation observed on Grindr. Additionally, a meeting with the alleged 13-year-old boy was scheduled and the defendant arrived for that meeting on May 23, 2022 at 1500 hours at George Bush Park.”
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