Teacher allegedly sexually assaulted teen during snow day

A science teacher in Maine allegedly plied a teen with pizza and booze before sexually assaulting her during a snow day at her home last month, authorities said.

John M. Glowa Jr., 43, of Readfield, allegedly “did substantially impair” the 16-year-old girl’s ability to react by giving her alcohol at a home in Mount Vernon on Jan. 23, a day when many schools in the area were closed due to snow, the Kennebec Journal reports.

Glowa, a teacher at Gardiner Area High School, was arrested Tuesday by Maine State Police Det. Ryan Brockway, who wrote in an affidavit that the girl told her boyfriend of the assaults later that evening. The girl’s boyfriend then told his father, who in turn contacted a trooper for the Maine State Police.

The girl told Brockway that Glowa gave her several alcoholic drinks while eating pizza and watching a movie. The sexual assault then followed while she was inebriated. The girl said she vomited later because of the booze and Glowa told her to tell her mother she was sick, which she did, according to the affidavit.

Brockway said he also obtained video footage from a store in Mount Vernon on Jan. 23 showing Glowa buying a bottle of whiskey and vodka, as well as four cans of Twisted Tea and a pizza. The girl also reported that Glowa had started giving her alcohol last fall when her mother was out of town on a business trip.

Glowa, who is facing charges of gross sexual assault and furnishing liquor to a minor, was being held at the Kennebec County Jail on $10,000 bond. A judge also been banned Glowa from contacting children, including his own, prior to his next scheduled court appearance on April 10, according to the newspaper.

Patricia Hopkins, superintendent of Maine’s School Administrative District 11, said in a statement that Glowa was “immediately placed on administrative leave” following his arrest. The alleged victim in the case attends a different school, Hopkins said.

In a letter sent home to parents, Hopkins urged concerned students to speak to a guidance counselor or school administrator.

“Teachers have been asked not to discuss this matter in class as it is a personnel matter and may disrupt the teaching and learning process,” Hopkins wrote.