Former Pennsylvania high school wrestling coach sentenced to prison over mishandling sexual assault investigation
A former high school wrestling coach in Pennsylvania has been sentenced to prison time over mishandling a sexual assault investigation and failing to protect students.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced Monday that Timothy Andrekovich, the former head wrestling coach for the Bellwood-Antis School District located near Altoona, was sentenced to 3 to 23 months in prison.
Andrekovich was convicted on felony child endangerment charges earlier this year.
Police said Andrekovich was overseeing the school district's wrestling program when he learned of an investigation into sexual abuse involving Ryan Blazier, a junior high coach with the program.
Instead of properly handling the situation, police said Andrekovich allowed Blazier to have unsupervised access to students.
"This defendant had a responsibility to protect his students that he failed to live up to," Attorney General Sunday said. "He betrayed those students with a lack of action that directly led to sexual abuse of one of them. This sentence sends a message that authority figures in our schools must perform their duty of care. The Office of Attorney General will continue to hold accountable those who fail to protect our children."
Blazier was convicted of sexual assault in 2023 and was sentenced to decades in prison.