A second Wilmington music teacher facing sex charges
May 16—While one former Wilmington Area High School music director is waiting to stand trial on sexual assault-related charges, his successor at the same school is now also facing sex-related charges.
A district judge on Friday issued a warrant for the arrest of Olivia Lois Ortz, 26, of Hermitage, who is accused of having an inappropriate physical romantic relationship with a 17-year-old female student while Ortz was the Wilmington High School choral teacher.
New Wilmington Borough police on Friday charged Ortz with two counts of intercourse/sexual contact with a school student, and one count each of unlawful contact with a minor for sexual offenses and criminal use of a communication facility, all felony-level charges.
Ortz was at large throughout the weekend and sang in the Shenango Valley Chorale's 50th anniversary concert Sunday in downtown Sharon before turning herself in to authorities Monday afternoon. She is the secretary of the chorale organization.
Borough police Chief Carmen Piccirillo, who conducted the investigation against Ortz, said she surrendered herself at the advice of her attorney. She was arraigned by District Judge Rick Russo, who committed her to the Lawrence County jail on a $150,000 bond, which she posted.
Her case follows a sex-related case filed in June 2020, by Lawrence County District Attorney detectives against Jonathan Priano, 37, the former band and music teacher at Wilmington High, who also is accused of misconduct with various students. Allegations are that he had an affinity for tickling the feet of his female students and having close, personal relationships with them.
When school officials learned of the allegations against Ortz, she was immediately suspended from teaching, initially with pay. She resigned from her position May 9 during the course of the investigation, according to Wilmington Superintendent Dr. Terence P. Meehan.
Meehan was not the district superintendent when either Priano or Ortz were hired.
Ortz's husband, Cody Ortz, directed Wilmington High School's musical this year, but is not employed by the district. He alerted the school officials when he returned home from a Florida trip that he had learned of his wife's reported relationship with the teen, according to a criminal complaint.
Cody Ortz reported initially he found correspondence between Ortz and the girl on an iPad. The school district and Cody Ortz reported the matter to Childline, which in turn alerted the police, according to the paperwork.
The police through the course of the investigation saw text and Spotify messages between Ortz and the girl.
More than 100 messages had been posted on the music streaming service between Ortz and the teen, the report said. Ortz and the girl had established a code word to warn each other in case something went wrong or "something bad" happened with either of them, the complaint states.
The teen later admitted to the police she had been to the Ortz's home several times when her husband was not home, had stayed overnight and that she and Olivia Ortz had physical romantic encounters, the report state.
The police conducted a follow-up interview with the teen and her parents on Monday, and the girl admitted the two continued to communicate with each other after search warrants had been served on Ortz's home on May 5. The girl told police they continued to communicate because they are in love and needed to support each other, the document states.
The girl told authorities her father took her cell phone, iPad and laptop from her.
She reported to police she stayed overnight at Ortz's house April 7, 8 and 9 and that they had a sexual relationship during that time, according to the court papers.
Priano's case is pending in the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas, and a pre-trial hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. June 29 in the courtroom of Judge John W. Hodge. Priano is charged with 10 counts of institutional sexual assault, two counts of unlawful contact with minors, 12 counts of corruption of minors and two counts of endangering the welfare of children.
Priano resigned from his position subsequent to charges being filed against him.
Suspects are considered to be innocent until proven guilty or adjudicated in a court of law.
