Police on suburban Philadelphia's Main Line revealed details Wednesday about a teacher at a school for troubled youth facing charges of repeatedly sexually assaulting a juvenile student she allegedly considered "her girlfriend."
Nina Scott, 28, taught at Presbyterian Children's Village on Roberts Road in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, said Radnor Township police. She was fired late last year, said the school.
"The only way I can describe what this teacher did is downright disgusting," said Radnor police Superintendent William Colarulo at a news conference Wednesday.
The sexual encounters between Scott and a female student took place from February 2016 to October 2016 on school property, at public parks in Philadelphia while the girl was on home leave and at Scott's home, said police.
Downingtown Police became aware of the incident last October and helped Radnor Police arrest Scott at her Downingtown home Tuesday, said Radnor police. Scott faces 70 total counts including 34 total counts of institutional sexual assault of a minor, said court records that don't list an attorney for Scott.
The goal of getting information out to the public is to make sure the teacher has no other allegations against her, said police.
The student is no longer at the Village, said police.
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During a routine search at another facility in the state, love letters from the teacher to the student and the student's journal gave details of the encounters, said police. In the letters signed "Pretty," Scott refers to the girl as "her girlfriend," said a criminal complaint obtained by NBC10.
Scott, a mother, refers to her toddler as "their" daughter and refers to her bed as "our bed," said police.
Scott was at the school since October 2015 -- teaching her alleged victim from October 2015 until last summer, said police. She repeatedly denied a sexual relationship with the student prior to her arrest but did admit to writing 30 to 40 letters -- something she didn't do with any other students -- to the student, said investigators.
The girl also denied any sort of physical relationship with Scott, calling her former teacher a mentor, said police.
Scott eventually admitted to kissing the girl on multiple occasions and touching the girl sexually in a classroom at The Village, said police. The girl also sexually touched Scott, said police.
Scott also admitted to seeing the girl naked in the classroom and in a Philadelphia park, said police.
Scott told investigators that at first she lied out of fears that her daughter and job would be taken away, said police.
After Scott's admissions, Investigators talked to the girl again, who at that time admitted to making the first move on Scott after passing a note to her in class asking if she could kiss Scott.
The girl also stayed at Scott's home after running away from The Village facility in early August, she told police, according to the criminal complaint.
The Village, which began in 1977, has "one unwavering goal: to reach the most vulnerable members of our communities and deliver assistance that last," says the agency's website. the school helps children dealing with trauma.
The Village school is "a facility for children that have psychological issues or were involved in criminal behavior or some type of disciplinary issue with other schools," said Colarulo. "If anything, they're the type of children that need even more care from these teachers and unfortunately this child didn't get it and her values and her trust system were violated by this teacher."
The school said police never processed any part of the school as a crime scene and dismissed Scott once allegations came to light.
"We received notification of an allegation of abuse against one of our staff members in October 2016 related to a former resident of our program," said a revised statement from The Village. "The staff member’s employment was immediately and indefinitely suspended without pay at that time. In December 2016 the staff member’s employment was formally terminated. It was our initial understanding that the alleged incidents did not occur on our property as no criminal investigation was conducted on our campus. (Wednesday) afternoon we learned from Radnor Township Police that they have reason to believe some alleged incidents did occur on school property. We have reaffirmed to law enforcement that they have our full support and complete cooperation as they proceed in this case and pursue justice for the victim."
