A student in Binghamton University’s teacher education program has been suspended and arrested on accusations of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.
Amy N. Miller, 23, is currently facing charges of a third-degree criminal sexual act and endangering the welfare of a child, according to state police, and was held Tuesday in the Tioga County Jail on $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond.
While enrolled at BU, Miller was student teaching at Union-Endicott High School and previously taught at the Owego Free Academy when she was a student at SUNY Cortland.
Miller, who was studying special education in her first semester of the program at BU, has been suspended until further review, said University spokeswoman Gail Glover.
Marilyn Blake, public information coordinator for the Union-Endicott school district, said Miller was removed from her position on Sunday after district officials heard of the arrest.
“When there is a question of possible criminal involvement, [they are] not allowed around children in the district until the problem is resolved,” she said. “We have to make decisions of caution to protect students.”
According to Blake, Miller was assigned to teach at Union-Endicott through an agreement local school districts have with BU which allows students in the teacher education program to do field work at different sites.
“When student teachers are here at Union-Endicott, they are students of the University,” Blake said. “They operate in very supervised manner.”
State police would not disclose the date and location of the crime.
According to Capt. James Barnes of the Sidney Police Department, the police currently have no information as to whether Miller had relations with other minors.
Blake said she wasn’t aware of any similar situations happening at Union-Endicott in the past. However, Barnes said cases like this one have happened in this area, but are infrequent.
Barnes also said BU, Owego Free Academy and Union-Endicott were helping with the investigation of this case.
According to S.G. Grant, dean of BU’s School of Education, students are admitted into the master’s teacher education program on factors including academic performance, graduate record examination scores, recommendations from professors and an essay of their background and personal goals.
All students enrolled in the program must also “present evidence of their undergraduate degree and their state certification as a teacher, which includes fingerprinting and a background check,” he added.
The program, three semesters long, requires students to work at least 100 hours in the field over two semesters before starting full-time work as a student teacher.
— Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.