Austin School Leaders Fired Amid Teacher Sex Case
AUSTIN, Minn. (AP) — Two top administrators at a Catholic school in Austin have been fired after a high school teacher was charged with having sex with a minor student.
The Diocese of Winona, which includes Austin, says Pacelli Catholic Schools President Jim Hamburge and Principal Mary Holtorf were fired after being put on leave last week. Former math teacher Mary Gilles was charged with six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a 17-year-old student earlier this month.
The Diocese had said the administrators' leave didn't have to do with the charges against the 28-year-old. Diocese spokesman Joel Hennessy said Thursday the church body is no longer distancing the terminations from the case. He says the Pacelli board of trustees is "looking into" the situation.
The Star Tribune reports Hamburge and Holtorf were not available for comment Thursday.
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