Former McKeesport middle school teacher facing charges of sexually assaulting children

A Pleasant Hills man with ties to at least three Allegheny County school districts is accused of sexually assaulting at least four boys over the past three years, and police said they are investigating “many other potential incidents.”

Eric Vincent Fairman, 26, taught middle school math in McKeesport Area School District until he resigned Wednesday morning, a day before Allegheny County Police announced the charges against him.

“Right now there are many other potential incidents that we are investigating,” said Lt. Jason Binder.

Fairman is charged with multiple counts of indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and criminal communications. The charges stem from 11 incidents starting in 2020, police said.

“There’s nothing more precious in this world than our children, and there is nothing more sickening than when someone who was trusted to coach and mentor them violates that trust and victimizes those children by sexually abusing them,” said Vic Joseph, assistant superintendent of the county police.

Fairman also worked in West Jefferson Hills and Keystone Oaks school districts.

A criminal complaint filed against Fairman said the alleged assaults happened in the children’s homes and, in at least one instance, at Fairman’s Challen Drive home.

The boys are identified in the complaint only as Victim 1, Victim 2, Victim 3 and Victim 4. They ranged in age from 10 to 12 when the alleged abuse happened, police said.

Police said one incident happened when Victim 1 was sleeping over at Victim 3’s home. The complaint said Fairman had been hanging out and drinking with the children’s parents at the time. Both boys said Fairman came into the bedroom at one point and molested them. One of the boys said Fairman would send text messages to him, telling the boy that he would love him forever.

Police said Victim 2 told them that Fairman touched him inappropriately when he was in his living room. The boy said other people were home, but they were outside, according to the complaint.

Victim 4 told police that Fairman was his baseball and basketball coach when he was in fifth grade, the complaint said. The boy said Fairman would take him to Thomas Jefferson High School to lift weights and shoot hoops before going to Fairman’s Pleasant Hills home to play darts.

The boy told police that Fairman would “do weird stuff” and say “weird stuff in his ear,” the complaint said.

Victim 4 said he stopped communicating with Fairman for about six months, but Fairman continued texting the boy and “would send messages of himself crying,” the complaint said.

Fairman had a three-hour Facetime call with the boy one night about a year ago, during which he “was crying and telling him how much he missed him,” the complaint said.

In another incident, after a summer basketball camp, the boy said Fairman drove him home and “talked about the weird stuff.” After the child told Fairman he would “talk to others to see if this was happening to them,” telling Fairman he thought it was weird, investigators said Fairman told the boy “the others don’t think so.”

The case against Fairman came together quickly. The alleged victims came forward to Jefferson Hills Police on Tuesday. Fairman turned himself in at county police headquarters around 7 a.m. Thursday.

“As soon as this was brought to our attention, we acted quickly,” Binder said. “We did not want anyone else to get victimized by (Fairman).”

Fairman coached girls basketball at Thomas Jefferson High School. He’d previously coached ninth grade baseball and was a substitute teacher. In a letter to parents, West Jefferson Hills Superintendent Janet Sardon said the district suspended Fairman from his coaching position and he is no longer allowed on school property.

He also coached varsity baseball at Keystone Oaks, where he was hired in December, officials said. He coached elementary and middle school students from the district at youth baseball camps over the summer. Superintendent William Stropkaj said in a letter to parents that Fairman resigned without explanation Wednesday morning.

Anyone with information about Fairman is asked to call the county police tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS (1-833-255-8477) or reach out via the department’s social media.