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HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County judge refused to dismiss a witness/victim intimidation charge filed against a former Bellwood-Antis School District administrator; but the manager’s defense attorney said the lawsuit was nothing more than an unsupported claim.

In a recent decision to consider challenges submitted on behalf of former athletic director Charles N. Burch, President Judge Wade A. Kagarise denied a motion to dismiss the third-degree felony.

“The court agrees with the Commonwealth that any discrepancies should be decided by the jury,” Kagarise said.

State’s Attorney Lauren Eichelberger acknowledged in court hearings and in court documents that, based on a recording showing a cellphone, the original charges were amended to show that the alleged threat occurred on or about February 19, 2020, rather than February 20, 2020. Conversation between the teenager and his mother at 7:51 a.m. on February 19, 2020.

At the time of the alleged threat, state police were investigating sexual assault allegations against middle school wrestling coach Ryan Blazier. The accusations against Burch show that he called one of the teenage victims into his office and asked if anything had happened at wrestling practice.

The teen, who testified at Burch’s preliminary hearing in January, said he answered “weird things” but did not elaborate. In response, the teenager said Burch told him he would handle the matter himself, then told him not to tell anyone or he could be suspended from the football team or removed from the bench.

The teenager said he called his mother after that meeting because he was upset about the possibility of being suspended or removed from the bench.

During a hearing before Kagarise in May, defense attorney Thomas K. Hooper told the judge that the teen admitted at a January preliminary hearing that he did not know when his meeting with Burch took place and “randomly threw in a date.” outside.”

The defense attorney also recalled the teenager’s statement and stated that it was in third period English class when he was called to Burch’s office; this is not supported by cell phone recording showing a call made at 7:51 am.

At a follow-up hearing on September 24, Hooper called witnesses to further dispute the alleged sequence of events. Michael Lingenfelter, retired technology coordinator for the school district, identified no phone calls between Burch’s office and the third-grade English class on Feb. 19 or 20, 2020.

At the same hearing, witnesses said Burch was assigned to hallway duty from 7:30 to 7:55 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2020, and to in-school suspension class during the third period on Feb. 20, 2020.

In response to this statement, Eichelberger took the view that general statements about where someone should be are insufficient to indicate that a crime has not been committed.

He agreed with Kagarise’s final verdict, taking the view that it was up to the jury to consider questions of credibility and conflicts of evidence.

At the Sept. 24 hearing, Hooper said Eichelberger did not know how to ethically proceed in a case where the credibility of the only witness had been compromised.

Eichelberger declined to comment after that hearing.

After learning of Kagarise’s decision, Hooper said he understood the court’s position because credibility issues are generally left to the jury – under the law. But he also said he believed he provided sufficient reasons to dismiss the charge.

“Everything that (the teenager) testified about, other than an unsupported allegation of threat, the Commonwealth now acknowledges did not occur,” Hooper said. “We were hoping that the court would find that the claim was completely unfounded. “We believe the jury will do that.”

Burch’s case is one of several that will be considered for jury selection on Dec. 16, according to an Oct. 23 review of pending cases. Burch was released on $50,000 unsecured bail.

In a related case, jury selection for Tipton’s Timothy Andrekovich, Bellwood-Antis’ former head wrestling coach, is scheduled for Dec. 2.

Andrekovich, represented by State College attorney Lance Marshall, faces a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child in a case in which he is accused of failing to implement a security plan that would have prevented Blazier from having unsupervised access to students.

Blazier, who was convicted by a jury of sexual assault charges in October 2021, is serving a sentence of 21 to 42 years in prison.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens, 814-946-7456.

BSD solved the second case

By Kay Stephens

[email protected]

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Bellwood-Antis School District settled a second civil lawsuit filed on behalf of a student victim of sexual assault, authorizing an insurance provider to pay $1.6 million to the student and the law firm that represented him.

The district’s action is similar to one taken in November 2023, when the district authorized a $1 million payment to resolve an initial civil lawsuit filed on behalf of a different student who was also an admitted sexual assault victim.

In both cases, students accused former middle school wrestling coach Ryan Blazier of sexually assaulting them on school grounds in 2019 and 2020.

Blazier is currently incarcerated at the State Department of Corrections in Green, serving a sentence of 21 to 42 years in prison. He continues to appeal seven sexual assault convictions handed down in an October 2021 criminal court jury trial in which two student victims testified.

The settlement in the second civil suit case was revealed in July when a document was filed with the Blair County Courthouse stating that the case had been resolved. The agreement was approved at the board’s June meeting, school district attorney Carl Beard said in response to the Altoona Mirror’s Right to Know request for a copy of the settlement agreement.

Under the latest settlement, the district’s insurance company was ordered to pay $1.11 million to the student victim and Marcus & Mack, whose Indiana County attorneys represented the student in court.

In addition, the settlement authorizes the insurance company to pay $490,000 to Prudential Assignment Settlement Services Corp., which will pay monthly and lump sum payments to the student victim through 2046.

In the initial civil lawsuit settlement, the district authorized a $550,000 payment to the aggrieved student and Marcus & Mack. It authorized an additional payment of $450,000 to the student in question, to be distributed monthly until 2048.

Because both agreements contained confidentiality clauses, those who negotiated the terms and amounts were prohibited from commenting on the agreements or disclosing differences in payments. Violations may result in infringement charges and damages claims.

However, confidentiality provisions accept disclosures to the extent permitted by law. This includes the release of settlement documents, which are recognized as public records in Pennsylvania and are available under the state’s Right to Know Act.