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High School Band Director Allegedly Had Sex With 13-Year-Old Boy He Met On Grindr, Told Cops He Thought Kid Was 30
Dale Schimpf allegedly told the boy he was attracted to him because he was "cute and younger."
A well-known Pennsylvania high school band director has been arrested after allegedly admitting to having sex with a 13-year-old boy he met on Grindr, telling police he thought the boy was 30 years old at the time of their encounter, authorities said.
Dale Schimpf, 71, was arrested Monday after police said he took a 13-year-old boy on a dinner date Friday night before taking him back to his house and forcing him to perform oral sex on him, Tamaqua Police Cpl. Thomas Rodgers told The Morning Call. He is also accused of having sex with the boy that night.
Rodgers said Schimpf had contacted the teen on Thursday or Friday on the popular dating website Grindr.
Before they met, he allegedly sent the boy naked photos of himself and told him he was attracted to the teen because he was “cute and younger,” WNEP reports.
The teen’s mom contacted police after he had told her about the alleged encounter the next day.
Police said they spoke with Schimpf, who allegedly admitted to having sex with the boy but told officers that he had thought the boy was 30 years old at the time.
It’s not clear how the teen gained access to the website usually restricted to adults.
The allegations came as a shock to the local music community, where Schimpf has been an institution for decades.
The 71-year-old formerly served as the choir director for Christ Lutheran Church and had been the music director for First United Methodist Church since 1977. Schimpf was also a music teacher in the North Schuylkill School District for 30 years beginning in 1969, the local paper reports.
At the time of his arrest, he was serving as a music teacher and high school band director at Nativity BVM High School in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
The Allentown Diocese has suspended him from his position within the Catholic school while the investigation is ongoing, according to WBRE.
He’s been charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 16, criminal solicitation to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 16 and corruption of minors.
He is being held at the Schuylkill County Prison on a $100,000 bail.
As Schimpf waits for the legal system to play out, some in the community have questioned his story about not knowing the teen was underage.
"I don't even know what to say about that because you can tell a 13-year-old from a 30-year-old. There's no way you can confuse the two," Saint Clair resident Donna Bulino told local station WNEP.
