Fayette County DA warns against silencing students amid Laurel Highlands teacher investigations

Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele is offering a stark warning after multiple Laurel Highlands High School parents claimed their students had been told not to speak in school about the serious allegations against two teachers who were arrested in recent weeks for having inappropriate relationships with students.

"If there's actually people that are telling them that they can't talk about it, or that they can't have an opinion on it, then it's unacceptable," Aubele told KDKA-TV.

He's heard mentions that students could even be suspended.

"We're still trying to get to the bottom of it," Aubele said. "I'm not saying that it's happening. However, it's not from one single source that we're hearing this."

In a Facebook post Saturday, he wrote that intimidation of a witness or victim is a crime and will be prosecuted.

"We're not going to tolerate the conduct against the students," Aubele told KDKA-TV. "We're not going to tolerate any failure to report on the part of any mandated reporter, and we're not going to tolerate any attempts to silence the student or tell anybody within a school that they can't speak on matters of public concern.

Teachers act as mandatory reporters, Aubele added. Some of the allegations they have heard include that conduct within the district has not been reported to law enforcement over the years.

"There is a belief amongst a large portion of the community, students and parents, that there is a culture that has been established at this school where things aren't to be reported, and things are swept under the rug," Aubele said. "And I don't know if that's true or not, but in light of those allegations and the two charges that we have filed over the last two weeks and the investigations that we continue to get, it's extremely concerning to me to have the allegation that now students are being told to remain silent."

The ongoing investigation extends beyond the teachers themselves.

"We're not only looking at just the incidents themselves that have resulted in the charges, but how long this has been going on, and what everybody knew about it," Aubele said.

Over the course of two weeks, two Laurel Highlands teachers were arrested after being accused of having inappropriate relationships with students.

JROTC Instructor Daniel Cervone, 50, is accused of sexual contact with a minor and corruption of minors. According to police, the victim is a 15-year-old Laurel Highlands High School student. A week prior, Martin Gatti, a longtime teacher, also 50, was charged with similar counts. He's since been fired.

They have received Childline reports regarding other misconduct, Aubele said. Some of it goes back 30 years and includes other school districts within the county.

In total, they have received well over a dozen reports either by phone, Childline, or Facebook, Aubele said. In his Facebook post, he said every victim has a right to be heard, and they will take every complaint they receive seriously.

The district has said they are fully cooperating with investigators, which Aubele did not dispute.