Ex-North East school aide pleads guilty to having sexual relationship with 16-year-old boy

A North East Township woman accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy while she was an instructional aide in the North East School District admitted to the relationship in court as she pleaded guilty to two felony charges on Thursday.

Alicia A. Gates, 46, pleaded guilty before Erie County Judge David Ridge to one third-degree felony count of institutional sexual assault and a third-degree felony count of corruption of minors.

Prosecutors dropped two other counts of institutional sexual assault that Gates faced in the case. But prosecutors consolidated the facts outlined in those charges into the institutional sexual assault charge to which Gates pleaded guilty.

Gates faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison and $30,000 in fines on the two charges, First Assistant Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz said in court.

Ridge scheduled sentencing for Feb. 2 at 8:45 a.m. before Judge John J. Mead. Gates remains free on unsecured bond.

Arraignment:State police say North East school aide admits to sex with boy

The institutional sexual assault charge relates to Gates' position at the time of the sexual relationship as "a person who is a volunteer or an employee of a school or any other person who has direct contact with a student at a school," according to Gates' criminal complaint.

Gates worked for the North East School District at the time as an instructional aide at Earle C. Davis Primary School, authorities said previously. The boy was a student in another building in the school district, and none of the sexual contact is alleged to have happened on school property.

Gates is no longer employed by the school district.

State police investigators filed the charges in late January 2020, accusing Gates of having a sexual relationship with the boy at two residences in North East Township, including a residence where Gates was dog-sitting. The sexual contact occurred between June 2019 and January 2020, Hirz said in court Thursday.

The investigation was launched in early January 2020 after investigators said the boy's father told troopers that the boy was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a teacher's aide from the school district.

State police wrote in the affidavit filed with Gates' criminal complaint that they learned from another person that the boy said he and Gates would "sext" using Snapchat, a messaging app, and the boy would sneak out of his house and Gates would pick him up so they could be alone together.

State police investigators said Gates admitted to having a relationship with the boy that advanced from kissing and "sexting" to sexual intercourse.

Gates waived her criminal case to court at her preliminary hearing in February 2020.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.