A Chester County boarding school teacher is accused of sexually assaulting one of his students.

Matthew Scavitto, 31, is charged with institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and endangering the welfare of children.

Scavitto, a teacher, coach and dorm supervisor at the Phelps School, a boarding school in Malvern, Pennsylvania, allegedly sexually assaulted a 17-year-old student.

The victim, who was a full-time boarding student at Phelps from 2011 to 2014, told police he was first sexually assaulted by Scavitto in May of 2013 after the two had become good friends. Scavitto sexually abused the teen at his on-campus apartment, according to investigators.

The victim told police the abuse continued through the summer of 2013 while both of them were at a camp in New Hampshire and during the victim’s senior year at the Phelps school.

The victim said Scavitto communicated with him via cell phone and text messages and used code words referencing sexual activity. Scavitto also allegedly told the victim to erase all text messages immediately after the conversations.

Scavitto was fired from the Phelps School after the allegations surfaced. He is currently being held at the Chester County Prison on $250,000 bail.

If you have any further information on the case, please call Willistown Police Detective Sergeant Jeff Heim at 610-251-0222.
 

A massive drug bust in Northeast Philadelphia netted authorities $3.3 million worth of heroin, making it the biggest heroin bust in the region in 20 years, officials announced Wednesday.

A joint task force between the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration led to the sting, which authorities said centered on three locations in the Northeast -- Bergen Street near Loretto Avenue in the Bell's Corner section, Levick Street near Frontenac in Oxford Circle and Stanwood Street near Roosevelt Boulevard in Rhawnhurst.

Federal and local investigators began looking into the drug ring for dealing and drug-money laundering in March 2015 and spent "countless surveillance hours" monitoring the property on Bergen Street, according to the D.A.'s office. The house, the D.A.'s office said, was being used as a safe house and stash house by the ring to prepare and store drugs and money.

On April 28, officers stopped two suspects outside the house, one of whom had a kilogram of heroin on him, officials said. Investigators then executed a warrant at the house, where they found nine more kilograms of the drug, according to the D.A.'s office. A portion of it was cut into 18 racks, each of which contained 50 bundles of heroin -- or 11,700 individual packets, displaying various stamps, authorities said. The estimated street value of the drugs is $3.3 million.

Investigators also found paraphernalia including a heat sealer, grinders, plastic bags, stamps and digital scales.

Three men have been charged in connection with the heroin ring, authorities said: Martin Paulino Gomez, 40, Domingo Cedno Pimentel, 26, and Ricardo Ortiz-Rolon, A.K.A. Acquiles Perez-Gomera, 36. All three are charged with intentional possession of controlled substances, manufacturing and delivering and possession with intent to deliver drugs, conspiracy and racketeering.

“Heroin is the primary drug threat to our area and as such, a significant enforcement priority of the DEA Philadelphia Division,” Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle said. “Working with the District Attorney’s Office, officers and agents dismantled a significant drug trafficking organization and seized a substantial amount of heroin, denying its distribution to our streets. The DEA will be unrelenting in our pursuit of those individuals pushing heroin into our communities.”

Ten demonstrators arrested at a raucous community meeting in Northeast Philadelphia's Lawncrest neighborhood were found not guilty of disorderly-conduct charges on Wednesday.

The protesters were charged after they disrupted a March 19 community meeting with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and District Attorney Seth Williams at Lawncrest Recreation Center. They were demonstrating against the D.A.'s announcement that two police officers were cleared in the December shooting death of Brandon Tate-Brown, who police have said reached for a gun during a car stop on Frankford Avenue, prompting officers to fatally shoot him.

During the meeting, the protesters changed, "No justice, no peace," and some started a melee, throwing chairs. Police rushed the meeting and arrested 10 of the demonstrators.

After the arrests that night, Ramsey called the protesters' display "embarrassing."

In a statement released Wednesday morning by the Philadelphia Coalition for Racial, Economic and Legal Justice, activists said they planned to hold rallies outside the Criminal Justice Center in downtown Philadelphia both before and after the ruling.

“Despite what the media implies, we came together to address an issue of life and death to the people who are supposed to address it,” Durmel Coleman II, one of the protesters arrested at the meeting, said in the statement. “How can so many people bring a problem to officers of the law, the District Attorney and the Police Commissioner's attention, and instead of addressing the problem, they try their best to silence us?”

Maria and Giovanni Ferrante

Maria Ferrante, 33, was last seen on June 3 at her home on the 2800 block of Normandy Drive in Philadelphia. Police say Ferrante is in the company of her 11-month-old son Giovanni Ferrante.

Ferrante is 5-foot-4 and weighs 140 pounds with hazel eyes and black hair. If you have any information on her whereabouts please call the Northeast Detective Division at 215-686-3153.

Theodore Barber

Theodore Barber, 12, was last seen in the back of his home on the 1500 block of Vernon Road in Philadelphia area 11 a.m. Saturday. Barber has gone missing before in the area of the Cheltenham Mall on 2385 West Cheltenham Avenue.

Barber is 5-foot-4 and weighs 85 pounds with a thin build, brown eyes and short black hair. He was last seen wearing a red t-shirt, red shorts and blue and white Nike sneakers.

If you have any information on his whereabouts, please call Northwest Detectives at 215-686-3353 or call 911.

Wesley Aponte-Luiggi

On May 8 around 2:30 a.m., 21-year-old Wesley Aponte-Luiggi was believed to be in the area of 15th and Market streets and was headed to the area of 100 West Berks Street but never arrived at his destination. He resides on the 7000 block of Algard Street.

This is the first time he's been reported missing.

Aponte-Luiggi is 5-foot-6 and weighs 145 pounds with a thin build, brown eyes, medium complexion and short, cropped brown hair.

If you have any information on his whereabouts, please call

East Detective Division at 215-686-3243 / 3244 or call 911.

Timothy Hamlett

Timothy Hamlett, 21, has been missing since December, 26, 2014.

Hamlett was on leave from his studies at the University of Pennsylvania when he went missing from his home in Teaneck, New Jersey. He was also a former member of the university’s track and field team.

The search for Timothy moved from Washington Heights in New York City -- where his cellphone and wallet were found -- to Philadelphia.

Witnesses in the area of Broad and Vine sts. claim to have seen Hamlett as recently as March.

The missing student is described as 6 feet tall with a slim, athletic build. He weighs approximately 150 pounds. At the time of his disappearance, he had a short brown afro, although it may be shorter or longer now.

He was last seen wearing jeans, sneakers and a royal blue Adidas zip-up hoodie. He also has two tattoos – one on the left side of his chest, a theater mask with the words “laugh now, cry later” and a spade as well as “Trust No One” written in a different language, with a shark head on the right side of his chest.

Anyone with information on Timothy Hamlett’s whereabouts is asked to call 917-686-0087 or email Hamlettfamily@optonline.net.

Nuquann Bowens

Nuquann Bowens, 16, went missing from the 11 block of N 19th Street in Camden, New Jersey over Easter Weekend.

The 6-foot-tall, 155-pound teenager is known to frequent the Junita Park and River Roads area, said Camden County Police.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the CCPD tip line at (856) 757-7042.

Tiajah M. Leak

Tiajah M. Leak, 18, was last seen leaving a home at 44 Murray St. in Trenton, NJ on Sunday, April 19.

She's described as 5'4" with brown hair and eyes. She weighs 121-pounds and has a piercing in the center of her ear.

Anyone with information on Tiajah's location is urged to call Lt. James Slack at 609-203-2467 or Sgt. Thomas Watter at 609-610-6658 with the Trenton Police.

Christopher Cole

contracted caretakers reported Christopher Cole, 72, missing from the 700 block of W Erie Avenue in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Police said the 5-foot-7-inch tall, 140-pound man with gray hair and brown eyes who suffers from dementia was last seen on April 1 and reported missing two days later.

Cole has gone missing before in area including Northeast Philly and South Philly, said police.

Anyone with knowledge of Cole's whereabouts should contact East Detectives at 215-686-3243/44 or call 911.

Kyle Kelly

Kyle Kelly, 13, was last seen on Friday, March 27 at Wayne Academy School, on the 5500 block of Wayne Ave. in the city's Germantown section. He usually takes the "K" SEPTA bus to his home on the 2900 block of West French St. after school, but failed to do so on Friday.

Kyle is 5'4", 100 pounds with brown eyes and gold-colored hair. He also has braces.

He was last seen wearing a blue colored shirt and navy pants.

Anyone with information on Kyle's whereabouts is urged to call Central Detectives at 215-686-3093 or 3094.

Jerry Joyce

Jerry Joyce, 58, was last seen at his residence in the Nova Nursing Home located on the 1700 block of Ellsworth Street Friday, March 27 before being reported missing.

Jerry, who suffers from schizophrenia and requires daily medication, was permitted to stay out Friday night until Saturday, March 28, but never returned.

Jerry is 5”8, 200 pounds with brown eyes, short black hair and a mustache. He was last seen wearing a red and black plaid shirt, dark sweatpants, a gray headed sweatshirt and a dark knit cap. 

He has gone missing in the past, but always returned, according to police. Jerry is known to frequent the 1700 Spruce St. and 1700 Washington Ave. area. 

Anyone with information on Jerry’s whereabouts is asked to call the South Detective Division at 215-686-3013.

Temple University tested its plans, policies and response capabilities for an active shooter scenario on Main Campus Wednesday.

The Department of Campus Safety and Temple Emergency Medical Services (EMS) participated in the drill which took place in and around Barton Hall Wednesday morning.

Actors portrayed victims and were triaged by EMS personnel on color coded tarps.

The drill is all in an effort to better prepare for actual emergencies on campus.

A Pennsylvania woman who was kidnapped as a child has renewed her effort to find her abductor over 30 years later.

Kelly Heller was only nine years old in May of 1981 when a man kidnapped and beat her in a remote area of Upper Saucon Township. Heller, whose brothers delivered newspapers, told NBC Philadelphia she was inside her Bethlehem home getting the newspapers ready for delivery. Suddenly, one of her brothers came inside and told her about a man who claimed he was running a newspaper contest with money and prizes. The man, who was outside their home, wanted to meet with her. The unsuspecting girl left her house and then went inside the stranger’s car.

“He drove away,” Heller said. “And then his story changed to me that we were going to Saucon Park and there was a little picnic and there were games. We were going to play hide and seek.”

Yet what Heller thought would be a fun day at the park quickly turned into a nightmare that would change her life forever.

“He grabbed me down below and he told me to take my clothes off and I said no,” Heller said.

Heller told NBC10 the man put her in a headlock and punched her repeatedly in the face before leaving her in a field in Upper Saucon. The beaten young girl went to Beverly McCartney’s home nearby and asked for help.

“I remember a little girl knocking on my door, covered in blood and barefoot,” McCartney said.

McCartney helped the young girl and called police. She never saw Heller again until three weeks ago when she heard a knock at her door.

“She asked me if I remembered the little girl who knocked on my door and I just said, ‘oh my God,’” McCartney said. “She said, ‘I’m that little girl.’”

While the kidnapping received plenty of press at the time, there have been no arrests after 34 years. That’s why Heller is now conducting her own investigation using social media.

“I remember going to the police station repeatedly and being interviewed,” Heller said. “I remember looking at mugshots and then all of a sudden it was just over and it was never discussed again. I never heard anything.”

The only Bethlehem police documents Heller could obtain were blacked out. She received a new lead in the case while speaking with McCartney however. McCartney claimed she received a police call several years ago about a sketch of a suspect in the kidnapping.

“They were gonna call her down and interview her and if she could make an identification there would be an arrest,” McCartney said. “And then I was told the officer that I spoke to was taken off the case. But I don’t know why.”

Heller says the only way to ease the torment she’s felt for 34 years is to solve her own kidnapping.

“The stories just don’t add up,” Heller said. “The more I dig the more questions I have.”

Heller hopes her social media campaign will give her the tip that leads to the breakthrough in the case. Bethlehem Police meanwhile told NBC10 they are searching through old police reports from 1981 that will eventually be available. They also said an ongoing investigation continues. 
 

From high school to aircraft base, 89-year-old Anna “Mae” Krier of Levittown, Pennsylvania reminiscences on her time working in the industrial labor force during World War II. Krier is thankful for growing up in what journalist Tom Brokaw calls the “greatest generation," as her experiences riveting and constructing B-17s and B-29s cannot be matched.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor shook the nation, American men fled their homes for the warfront, leaving their job positions vacant. In 1943, 17-year-old Krier left the familiarity of North Dakota and went to work at the Boeing Company, an aircraft factory that operated in Seattle, WA.

After undergoing a two-week training program to learn how to buffer a rivet, Krier was sent to the actual factory where she began to build planes. Krier soon became an inaugural “Rosie the Riveter.”

One of Krier’s favorite memories from working at Boeing occurred in May, 1944. Along with her fellow “Rosies," Krier helped construct  5 Grand, the 5,000^th B-17 produced by the Boeing Company after the start of the War. To commemorate their efforts, the Riveters got to paint their names on the craft and even had the opportunity to push the plane out on the tarmac. Krier still has photographs from the 5 Grand christening, which remind her of the pride and honor she carried on that day.

“When the war took place, the men went to war and so did the women,” Krier said. “They went in the trenches, but we went in the aircraft factories and the shipyards. We did whatever had to be done in order to win the war.”

Her former coworkers still joke about Krier “being in love with her B17." In addition to working in aircraft factories, women lent their talents to shipyards, ammunition plants, or supplied entertainment for the soldiers during wartimes. Krier notes the women were humbled by their service and never considered it a duty, but an honor.  

After she married a Navy man she met on the dance floor in April 1945, Krier moved with her husband after he was transferred to another base near Spokane, WA. Until the culmination of the war, Krier worked with Italian Prisoners of War in a compound that manufactured materials for the army engineers. She also contributed to the war efforts during the Korean War, but soon moved back to the Trenton area, where her husband was born.

After almost 70 years of marriage, Krier’s husband passed away on June 2014. They have two children, a daughter, 69, and son, 67.

“The story I love to tell is they said that Hitler said he wouldn’t have a problem winning over America. He said the women couldn’t produce, he said we were too spoiled and soft and we spent too much time and money on cosmetics,” Krier said. “We went to work with a vengeance when we heard that. We sure showed him.”

Krier leaves early Thursday morning for the American Rosie the Riveter Association’s (ARRA) reunion in Richmond CA. With the help of the Twilight Wish Foundation, a non-profitable organization which honors elderly American veterans, Krier’s dream became a reality. Events throughout the three-day conference include a boat tour of a former WWII shipyard and a visit to the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park.

Krier is most excited to reconnect with fellow Rosie’s from across the country.

“People don’t work together like they did back then. We just dug in and did whatever had to be done,” Krier said. “We grew up during the depression era, so everything that we did, we greatly appreciated. As I always say, the things you value most in your life are the things you have to work for.”

Krier will return home in Levittown from the conference on June 15.

A man was shot and killed in North Philadelphia Wednesday night.

The unidentified victim was on 8th and Lehigh streets around 9:40 p.m. when a gunman opened fire before fleeing the scene.

The man was taken to Temple University Hospital where he died from his injuries. No arrests have been made.

A 17-year-old girl who went missing in Philadelphia late Wednesday night has been found safe.

The teen, 17-year-old Sarah Wills, was found safely in Chestnut Hill shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday .

Police say Wills attended a concert at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey Wednesday night.

The teen was picked up by her dad and they were heading back to their home in Upper Dublin around 8 p.m.

At some point, investigators say the teen asked to get out of the car to relieve herself in a wooded area at Cresheim Valley Road near Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill.

Wills did not return and her dad searched for her and called police.

After searching throughout the night, the teen was located in the woods at about 7 a.m.

The investigation is ongoing.

Philadelphia police are questioning a cabdriver who believes he may have picked up the two convicted killers who escaped from a prison in New York earlier this week.

The cabdriver told police he picked up two men who matched the descriptions of 48-year-old Richard Matt and 34-year-old David Sweat at Broad and Vine around 4:15 a.m. Thursday.

The cabdriver dropped the men off at 30th Street Station in downtown Philadelphia.

The cabdriver is currently being questioned by investigators and police stressed that this investigation is very preliminary.

Matt and Sweat escaped from a prison in upstate New York on June 6.
 

The Streets Department of Philadelphia announced Thursday morning they would be performing roadway repairs on various Center City Streets throughout the afternoon and evening hours.

There will be intermittent closures from 4:00pm to 12:00am on the streets for repairs related to roadways defects which occurred over the winter, Streets Commissioner David J. Perri announced today. The Streets Department will be coordinating with SEPTA on the closures.

The Streets Department thanked citizens in a release for their patience and cooperation as they continue to improve roadway conditions.

The following streets and blocks are affected:

• 500 S. 2nd Street
• 100 & 200 N. 3rd Street
• 200 S. 3rd Street
• 200 S. 13th Street
• 200 & 300 Arch Street
• 100 Bread Street
• 1300 Chancellor Street
• 300 Cherry Street
• 700 Filbert Street
• 100 N. Front Street
• 300 Gaskill Street
• 200 Juniper Street
• 400 Locust Street
• 300 Lombard Street
• 600 Panama Street
• 500 S. Reese Street
• 100 Walnut Street
• 1200 & 1300 Walnut Street

A 13-year-old was hit by a school bus in a Camden, New Jersey neighborhood Thursday afternoon, police tell NBC10.

The child was playing with his sister along Alabama Road near Octagon Road around 3:45 p.m. when the small bus collided with him, police said.

He was rushed to nearby Cooper University Hospital for treatment. Police said he was conscious and alert and is listed in stable condition.

Editor's Note: Police originally identified the victim as a 3 year old. Officials said that was the result of a paperwork error. The age has since been corrected.