Seth Reich, drama teacher who had sex with former students, sent to state prison

WEST CHESTER — The one-time drama teacher at a Chester County charter school who was tried for having sex with two of his former students after grooming them while they were involved with theater productions in and out of the school was sentenced to incarceration at a state prison by a Common Pleas Court judge.

Seth Reich was given a sentence of three to 10 years behind bars by Judge Analisa Sondergaard after a lengthy hearing at which he expressed his remorse for his behavior and the judge heard from both of the women in the case, even though he had been acquitted of the charges involving the younger of the two.

In his apology, Reich admitted that what he had done had made a “mess” of their lives, and those of his wife and family, and, ultimately, his own.

But although his attorney had urged Sondergaard to accept his contrition and to hand down a punishment that would allow him to serve his time at the Chester County Prison and not in a state correctional facility, the judge said she could not overlook the way he had assaulted the older woman and then “manipulated” her into believing that what had occurred between them was her fault.

“This case is not about an inappropriate affair or extramarital tryst,” Sondergaard said, echoing the way his actions were described by one of Reich’s therapists. “It’s about the sexual assault of a 19-year-old girl, and that fact is not lost on the court.

“What happened to (the woman) will not be written off by this court as a mistake, a lapse in judgment, a bad personal choice, or straying from his marriage — it is a crime,” she said. “Those phrases do not adequately characterize the sexual assault of a 19-year-old girl who was provided alcohol to the extent that defendant knew or was at least reckless regarding her non-consent.”

The woman, who appeared in court via a video link, was assaulted by Reich in a Uwchlan hotel room in August 2019 where they had gone with the younger girl to celebrate her return to college after a production of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” at the Chester Springs theater company he ran with his wife.

After serving her several shots of tequila, Reich forced her to perform oral sex on him and molested her until she passed out. During the incident, he slapped her when she mentioned his wife. When she awoke, he contended that the encounter had been consensual and that she had invited it.

“We know that defendant took advantage of his position of power,” Sondergaard said. “We know that he manipulated two young girls who were less than half his age by plying them with alcohol and by renting a hotel room for them to ‘party’ away from the watchful eyes of other adults. We know that he betrayed their trust.”

Reich, 42, of Downingtown, was found guilty at trial in May of sexual assault, indecent assault, simple assault and furnishing liquor to a minor. Sondergaard’s sentence focused on the charge of sexual assault, and she imposed concurrent penalties on the other counts.

Reich was acquitted of the charge of having sex with the younger woman, who sat in the courtroom with friends and supporters when she was a student at the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School in West Goshen, where he was a theater teacher. The jury could not determine that the woman was still enrolled at the time when she and Reich began their consensual affair.

MediaNews Group is withholding the names of the two women because of the nature of the charges.

State sentencing guidelines for the charge of sexual assault, the lead count against Reich, called for a minimum period of incarceration of between 36 months and 54 months. The prosecution, led by Chief Deputy District Attorney Erin O’Brien, asked Sondergaard to impose a term beyond the aggravated range — six to 12 years in prison.

In her sentencing memo, O’Brien called Reich’s behavior evidence that the community needed to be protected from him. ” Despite his education and upbringing, and his own experience with sexual violence, “he valued his own ego and need for adoration or appreciation from young women over the bodies or mental health.

“An individual who would use his knowledge, success and position as a teacher and authority figure for his own sexual gratification is an individual who presents a clear danger to society,” she wrote.

But defense attorney James Funt, who represented Reich at trial, said the prosecution’s contention that there was no evidence to support the mitigated sentence he was seeking and that Reich had shown no contrition, “is belied by the facts.”

Since his arrest, Funt said, Reich has been engaged in therapy and counseling for the mental health problems — including bipolar disorder and sex addiction — that led him to engage in the compulsive behavior he displayed with the two young women. He has gone to his therapists more than four times a month, without being ordered to do so, and continued to see them while in prison following his conviction.

He had made amends with his wife and her family to the extent that they now believe he had turned his life around, he said.

“He is engaged in the process of being a better man and a better husband,” Funt said, noting that his wife, Jessica Reich, continued to support him as they go through marriage counseling. “I have never seen this level of pre-trial mitigation before. The arrest may have saved his life. (His therapy) all started to take.

“He is doing everything we want him to so societally speaking to be a better person,” Funt said as Reich sat at the defense table and listened.”

Reich, then locally known acting teacher and regional theater performer, was arrested in July 2021 after the younger of the two students came forward to West Goshen police Detective Sgt. David Maurer reported having an ongoing sexual relationship with her while she was a student at the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School and he was on staff at its Center for Performing and Fine Arts.

He was charged again two months later when the older of the women reported the incident at the Uwchlan hotel.

At Reich’s trial in May, Funt acknowledged that his client had had sex with both women, but asserted that he had not committed any criminal offense.

“You may find what he did repugnant,” said Funt in his opening address to the jury. “You may find it immoral. But his immoral conduct is not why we are here. That is between his wife, his marriage counselor, and his god.”

But Reich’s behavior was cited by the prosecution as an example of the “grooming” of young women by an older, more experienced man looking for sexual conquests. According to testimony, Reich moved from complimenting the women — who were 17 and 19 years old, respectively, on their appearance and talent while they were his students, to little by little engaging them in sexual banter and — eventually to physical relationships.

He did not take the stand in his own defense.

In her comments before handing down Reich’s sentence, Sondergaard made clear that she was not taking the charges of which he was found not guilty into account

“The only charges that are relevant to this court today are those related to (the older of the two.) While (Reich’s) relationship with (the younger woman), to borrow from defense counsel’s statements, may have been morally wrong and inappropriate, it was not found to be a crime and cannot be considered by this court beyond the furnishing alcohol to minors charge.

Reich is also facing criminal charges in Delaware in connection with a trip he and the younger woman made in 2019 to a Days Inn motel outside Wilmington, where they had a sexual encounter when she was 17. Although the age of consent in Delaware is 16, as it is in Pennsylvania, if the age difference between the people involved is 10 years or more, it is considered statutory sexual assault.

That case is still awaiting a disposition.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.