Plaintiff testifies sex with teacher later left her depressed
A 22-year-old woman testified Friday she had sex with a former teacher when she was a high school sophomore, and now has issues with depression, trouble sleeping and feelings of guilt and shame.
The woman testified as part of a lawsuit she brought against the former teacher, Donald Rosie, 61, of Uniontown and the Albert Gallatin Area School District, which she attended when the sex occurred in 2006. At that time, the woman was 16 years old and had Rosie for a teacher in sixth grade, but said she kept in touch with him over the years.
The trial is being held in Fayette County Court.
Rosie was charged in 2006 with corruption of minors and ultimately pleaded no contest in the case for a probationary sentence. The woman is not being identified because she is a victim in a case that deals with a sex-related crime.
In sixth grade, Rosie gave her a lot of attention, including touching her shoulders and thighs, telling her she was “sexy” and asking what underwear she was wearing, the woman testified. During the ensuing two years, the woman testified she did not have Rosie for class, but said he asked her daily to come to his classroom and see him.
They lost touch for a year when she went to the high school, but in 10th grade, the woman testified, the two started talking again when she contacted him using the cellphone number he gave her in seventh grade.
They exchanged “thousands of text messages” and the woman testified that Rosie told her he couldn’t wait for her to turn 16.
“Why?” asked Shaffer.
“To have sex with me,” she testified.
Sixteen is the age of sexual consent in Pennsylvania. The charge Rosie faced dealt with people younger than 18.
The woman testified they met at a mall in November and December 2005, at some point kissing. Between March and June 2006, the woman testified, they’d had sex about six times, either in Rosie’s car or at his home.
The sexual relationship came to light in June when the woman’s mother saw a phone bill, and took her then-teenage daughter to the state police.
Initially, she denied the relationship, the woman testified under questioning from school district attorney Anthony G. Sanchez.
“Because I cared about Mr. Rosie, I didn’t want to see him get in trouble. … I had feelings for him. I was in love with him,” she testified.
After the criminal case was filed and people knew of their relationship, the woman testified, she was picked on by her peers and ultimately was home-schooled her last two years of high school. She also testified she had suicidal thoughts and still has trouble sleeping, is nervous and depressed.
Dr. Robert Wettstein, a Pittsburgh psychiatrist who took the stand on behalf of the plaintiff, testified that the woman suffers from major depression and anxiety disorder.
The woman testified that she never felt pressured to have sex with Rosie, and he never offered to help her with her grades or anything similar if she had sex with him.
As Rosie, who is representing himself, stood to cross-examine the woman, he told her doing so “is as painful for me as it is for you.”
He asked the woman if she knew he did not have a cellphone in 2002, when she said he gave her the number. The woman maintained that he gave her the number.
The woman also acknowledged that in January or February 2006, Rosie told her they needed to stop what they were doing because he could get in trouble.
Shaffer, on Friday, rested his case. Sanchez made a motion to dismiss the district from the suit, but Judge John F. Wagner Jr. denied that request.
The case will resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday because the courthouse is closed on Monday for Presidents’ Day.