Courts. (Credit: Flickr/Creative Commons)
Under a plea agreement, Kelly Ann Schutte, 36, of the 600 block of Penn Street, Pennsburg, will have to report her address to Pennsylvania State Police for 15 years as a sex offender
A former Bucks County middle school guidance counselor who corrupted the morals of a 14-year-old male student was sentenced to seven years of probation, after previously pleading guilty to a felony charge of corruption of minors of a sexual nature.
Under a plea agreement, Kelly Ann Schutte, 36, of the 600 block of Penn Street, Pennsburg, will have to report her address to Pennsylvania State Police for 15 years in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law, according to The Mercury.
The conviction ensures that Schutte can never be employed as a school counselor again, per the report.
“As a guidance counselor, you were in a position of trust. You breached that trust on multiple occasions. You were supposed to offer guidance, and instead, you sexually molested a student,” Montgomery County Judge Wendy G. Rothstein told Schutte, according to The Mercury.
Schutte allegedly had contact with the Bucks County student on three occasions between September 2022 and July 2023. At the time of the incidents, Schutte was employed as a guidance counselor at Pennridge South Middle School in Bucks County.
According to the article, during the hearing, Rothstein turned to the boy and praised him for his courage in coming forward.
“You are strong, brave and courageous. You are not to blame for anything that happened here. You did nothing wrong,” Rothstein said.
“When someone, who we as a society have deemed trustworthy, breaks that trust, the ramifications are great and far-reaching. We as a family have been jolted by this offense,” the boy’s mother told the packed courtroom, according to the report. “The cost to our child has been substantial. Peace was stolen along with innocence and normalcy. The effects on both his reputation and daily school life are noticeable and inescapable,” the woman added. “No sentence can right this wrong or undo the damage that has resulted. But consequences are essential in order for justice to prevail.”
More than a dozen members of Bikers Against Child Abuse chapters from Montgomery, Delaware and Bucks counties showed up in court to support the boy and his family.
Schutte showed no emotion or remorse at her sentencing. She was accompanied to the sentencing by her husband.
Assistant District Attorney Bradley Walter Deckel alleged Schutte groomed the victim for months and began to have sexual contact with him even though he was 14, could not consent and she was his guidance counselor.
The investigation began on July 18, 2023, when the 14-year-old boy’s parents contacted Upper Perkiomen police to report that their son disclosed Schutte had inappropriate sexual contact with him.
The boy, who had just graduated from the eighth grade, told his parents that Schutte kissed him and touched him inappropriately when he was at her Pennsburg home on July 17, according to the criminal complaint.
Pennridge Regional Police Detective Richard Dean assisted with the investigation.
Read more on the details of the case here.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
