Charges against Northampton’s Hannah Marth explored as javelin coach gets arrested for getting intimate with 17-year-old student

26-year-old Hannah Marth, a javelin coach at Pennsylvania’s Northampton Area High School, was charged with s**ual assault against a 17-year-old boy she used to coach. She was arrested after police learned about her engagement in a physical relationship with her student. Hannah was released on unsecured bail on Thursday, April 13, 2023.

As per the Northampton District Attorney, Hannah sent the victim a text in May 2021 at about 2 am, inviting him to her house, where the two allegedly slept together. While Hannah was the javelin coach at the time, the student was among the active members of the track and field program.

Hannah Marth is facing third-degree felony charges (Image via Twitter/@DannellAtchison)

DA Terence Houck said that a trusted relationship between a coach, a student-athlete, and the athlete’s parents can be vulnerable. He continued that the abuse of that relationship was a display of the coach’s blatant disregard for the well-being of her students, as well as the law. He added:

“This defendant defied that trust when she committed this alleged crime against the victim.”

---

The Superintendent of Easton Area School District intends to cooperate with authorities on the Hannah Marth case

Hannah Marth (Image via Northampton Area High School)

Hannah Marth, from Lehigh Township, is currently a teacher in Northampton County’s Easton Area School District. Superintendent David Piperato said in a statement that the district attorney’s office informed the school district about Hannah’s arrest.

The minor student, with whom the javelin coach was involved, told police that he and Hannah Marth were in a romantic relationship that lasted until October 2022. Apart from being currently charged with institutional s**ual assault, the coach is also facing felony charges of s**ual assault by a sports official.

Piperato said that the school district does not comment on personnel matters or ongoing criminal matters as a practice. However, they intend to fully cooperate with the authorities in Hannah Marth's case and are ready to take all necessary actions to ensure the safety of their students.

Hannah Marth was the track and field team’s standout member when she attended Northampton Area High School. Her arraignment was on Thursday afternoon. She was released on $75,000 unsecured bail.

---

What is institutional s**ual assault? Recent charges of the same against other coaches explored

Institutional s**ual assault refers to s**ual contact between two individuals who are in a specific professional relationship. Individuals who can be charged with this offense include employees of any correctional authority, youth development centers, or youth forestry camps, state-run juvenile detention facilities, mental health facilities, and residential facilities serving youth.

In the past, coaches and teachers have occasionally been arrested on allegations or suspicion of s**ual battery. 45-year-old Jennifer Hawkins, an Oklahoma cheerleading coach was in a physically intimate relationship with her 16-year-old daughter’s ex-boyfriend. The two had s**ual intercourse over 300 times within the course of their affair of five years. Hawkins was arrested on March 8, 2023.

Jennifer Hawkins was accused of forcing 16-year-old student into a s**ual relationship (Image via Twitter/@dess_ri)

In October last year, 31-year-old Ashley Rison, a softball coach based in Ohio, pleaded guilty to numerous counts of s**ual battery involving a 17-year-old student.

55-year-old Mark Hein, a teacher at Lake Stevens High School in Washington, DC, was arrested on January 25, 2023, on multiple s**ual assault charges. The authorities received several complaints of inappropriate conduct against Hein, after which they placed him on administrative leave.

Mark Hein was arrested on multiple charges (Image via Twitter/antifaoperative)

Hein was facing two counts of s**ual misconduct with a minor, two counts of assault with s**ual motivation, and two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. He was taken to the Snohomish County Jail.