Former Highlands School District teacher charged with sexually abusing 2 students

A man is facing charges after police said he sexually abused two students while he was a teacher at Highlands School District, paying one of them over $6,000 to keep quiet. 

Fifty-three-year-old Sean Dicer is facing a slew of charges, including sexual extortion, institutional sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors after police said a 16-year-old victim came forward in November, alleging he was abused when he was 11 or 12 by Dicer.

According to the criminal complaint, the teenager told police he met Dicer at a park when he was 8 years old, and after that, Dicer acted as a "father figure." He told police that in the summer of 2021, he brought a friend, who was also a Highlands student, to Dicer's Brackenridge home, and that's when the abuse began.

Police said the abuse continued until school started, and when one of the victims threatened to tell, Dicer would allegedly apologize and offer him anything he wanted. Investigators said that victim showed proof of Cash App payments from Dicer totaling over $6,000.

In a statement, the Highlands School District confirmed Dicer was a teacher until 2022 when he resigned. 

"While we are unable to comment on specific personnel issues, Highlands School District follows all required procedures if there is an allegation of an inappropriate relationship between a teacher and a student," the district said. 

Allegheny County police said the investigation started after a ChildLine report. The Allegheny County Department of Human Services says 50% of calls made to the state's child abuse hotline are investigated.

"I think it's very important that we use these processes to ensure that victims feel that they are heard, that they can disclose abuse in a safe environment, and they feel they can trust us to go through their concerns and investigate those matters thoroughly," said Mandeep Gill, with the Office of Children, Youth and Families.

Douglas Wolfe said he lives a few doors down from Dicer and that they barely interacted. But he said he saw officers in the neighborhood. 

"A couple state policemen out, they were looking around. I inquired and they said they were taking care of something," Wolfe said. 

"If he's watching, is there anything you want to say to him?" asked KDKA's Mamie Bah. 

"Not that I could say on camera," Wolfe replied.