Court denies former teacher's molestation appeal

HARRISBURG —On Jan. 4, the Pennsylvania Superior Court denied the appeal of Thomas Harvey Matthews, former teacher in the Delaware Valley School District who was convicted on twenty-three separate charges in July of 2006. He was sentenced to eleven and one-half years to twenty-four years for crimes committed against former students. Matthews’ conviction came after three different students testified how he touched them underneath their clothes while they were in his third-grade class. First Assistant Pike County District Attorney Bruce DeSarro, who prosecuted the case at trial, stated that “our community owes a great debt of gratitude for the bravery these young people showed in coming forward and bringing this predator to justice.”