The Rev. Doctor Robert J. Gallagher passed peacefully on Thursday July 6, 2023, at the age of 82. Bob, the eldest of eight children, was born in Lowell, MA to
Teacher sentenced to prison for sexually molesting female student during class trip to Hershey
Updated Jan 28, 2021;
A former New York teacher who pleaded guilty to sexually molesting a 16-year-old student during a class trip to Hershey was sentenced to prison by a Dauphin County judge Thursday.
Judge Richard A. Lewis sentenced Joseph A. Gallagher, 29, of Smithtown, to 9 to 23 months behind bars for the May 2019 incident at a hotel in Swatara Township.
Gallagher, who also was hit with student sex charges in New York, was accompanying students from Bethpage School District on the trip.
Joseph Gallagher, 28
Investigators said he began having sexual conversations with the student several months before the trip and had sexual contact with her. Gallagher and the girl texted each other while at the central Pennsylvania hotel and arranged to meet in his room, where they engaged in sex, police said.