TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Police: Teacher Arrested After 2-Person Field Trip

News Channel 8 photo by ROD CHALLENGER

Gibbs High School science teacher Darren Snieszko is charged with interfering with custody. Police say he encouraged a 16-year-old girl attending Gibbs to go on what he called a field trip to Lowry Park Zoo alone with him.

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEPHEN THOMPSON of The Tampa Tribune and ROD CHALLENGER of News Channel 8

Published: April 30, 2008

Updated: 04/30/2008 03:39 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - A Gibbs High School science teacher was arrested today on charges that he engaged in inappropriate behavior with a student, police said.

The official charge against Darren Snieszko, 25, of St. Petersburg, is interference with custody, a felony.

According to an arrest affidavit, Snieszko encouraged a 16-year-old girl attending Gibbs High to go on what he called a field trip to Lowry Park Zoo, but there were no other students or teachers involved with the trip, the affidavit states.

Snieszko paid for the girl's admission with his Pinellas County teacher's discount card, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt. The spokesman characterized the outing as a date.

Darren Snieszko

He also sent the 16-year-old girl a variety of romantic messages, using MySpace, cell phone text messages, and e-mail messages, Proffitt said.

The girl and her mother went to the police station April 11 to complain. Another female student at the school also is claiming Snieszko took her on a trip, but Snieszko has not been charged in that incident, Proffitt said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT