Former Highlands teacher's sex assault charges held for court

Charges of sexual assault against former Highlands School District teacher Sean Dicer were held for court during a preliminary hearing Monday.

Dicer, 53, of Brackenridge, appeared before District Judge Michael J. Girardi in Harmar on charges that include involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, unlawful contact with a minor and sexual extortion. He is being held in Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh.

Because the hearing involved minors, no one was allowed in the courtroom during testimony.

Dicer did not comment to the media after his hearing.

His attorney, Duke George, said a formal arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 30. George plans to waive the arraignment and request a jury trial, he said.

“We have a number of witnesses that will speak to his character in the community,” George said.

“This is just an unfortunate situation. He was put in a situation concerning these charges that now we have to address, and we will.”

A district teacher for nearly 20 years, Dicer was arrested Dec. 4 at his home after an investigation by the Allegheny County Police. According to a criminal complaint, a report was made to ChildLine, the state’s child abuse hotline, by a now-16-year-old boy claiming he had been abused four years ago by Dicer.

A second boy’s claim also was investigated. The boys were 11 and 12 when the alleged assaults occurred, according to a criminal complaint.

Police said the incidents happened in summer 2021 at Dicer’s home.

George said the criminal complaint is based on too many estimates. George said there were no hard facts regarding the dates, times or places of the alleged assaults.

“They have approximate dates,” he said. “We have nothing specific as to when, where, how it happened. How do you defend a case when you don’t know specifically what date it happened, where it happened or who was there?

“They just give you generalities that this happened sometime four years ago in the summer. Hopefully, we’ll get more information when we get to discovery.”