Melissa Bonkoski is a convicted sex offender and former Science Teacher at Owen J. Roberts High School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. The school is within the Owen J. Roberts School District in northern Chester County, Pennsylvania. On February 26, 2018 she pleaded guilty to institutional sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor after sexually assaulting a 16-year-old male student. ^[1]

Melissa Bonkoski resides in Glenside, Pennsylvania. She recently lived in Stowe, Pennsylvania. She is a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball (MLB) team.

Melissa Bonkoski was a Science Teacher and a Softball Coach at Owen J. Roberts High School. ^[1] She tendered her resigned from her position after criminal charges relating to her sexual assault of a student in August, 2017.

On Monday, February 26, 2018 Melissa Bonkoski pleaded guilty to institutional sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor, both third-degree felony charges punishable by a maximum of three and half to seven years in state prison. ^[1]

“Do you agree that you engaged in sex with a 16-year-old?” Judge Ann Marie Wheatcraft asked the defendant.

“Yes,” Bonkoski responded.

Melissa Bonkoski was first charged with harassing the teenage student, who complained to police.

But she later admitted that she had sex with the youth at her home in Stowe, Pennsylvania, in December 2016, after inviting him there to watch television. ^[1]

The victim, a 16-year-old male, was a student in the defendant’s class during his freshman year.

He came forward and told investigators about the relationship he had with Bonkoski after a girlfriend discovered improper text messages on his cellphone and alerted authorities, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. ^[1]

Bonkoski later told detectives that she had purchased a burner phone only for communications with the student, thinking that it would be untraceable to her. ^[1]

“I thought I was being smart,” she told police in an interview.

^[1]

According to the release, Bonkoski started the relationship by communicating with the victim outside of school.

The conduct progressed to kissing and “make-out” sessions in her car when she would pick him up from work.

The youth said he was afraid that he would stop getting rides if he stopped kissing the defendant.

^[1]

Bonkoski eventually invited the victim to her house, and discussed oral sex and sexual intercourse with the student. She kept communicating with him on the “burner” phone, trying to keep the communications secret. Then, sometime in December, they had sex. Bonkoski acknowledged the contact in an interview with Chester County Detective Christine Bleiler of the DA’s Child Abuse Unit on Aug. 11; the teen confirmed the matter on Aug. 21, according to the arrest affidavit. ^[1]

The victim eventually tried to cut off contact with Bonkoski, but she continued to insist on contacting him via text messages, leading to the discovery of the crime.

^[1]

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Emily Provencher of the Child Abuse Unit.

Bonkoski is represented by defense attorney Marc Neff of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ^[1]