A former information technology specialist for the Valley View School District and board member of a railroad museum in Bethlehem pleaded guilty to child sex charges Thursday after being accused of sexting and molesting a teenage boy.
William James Christian, 31, of Dupont, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor and 10 felony counts of disseminating sexual images to a minor. Christian also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of indecent assault of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor.
In exchange for the plea, Deputy Attorney General Mary G. Phillips withdrew additional charges against Christian.
Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. accepted his plea and scheduled sentencing for Dec. 2.
Prosecutors said Christian was employed with Valley View and was also a board member for the Lehigh & Keystone Valley Model Railroad Museum at 705 Linden St., Bethlehem, at the time the allegations surfaced.
Christian was immediately suspended from both institutions as a result of his arrest.
The charges filed by state police alleged the victim thought of Christian as a friend who lived nearby and would take him to a “train club.” Christian began having sexually explicit conversations with the victim and groping the boy’s thighs and buttocks, according to the charges.
Christian, who is represented by attorney Frank Nocito, remains free on $125,000 bail pending sentencing.
