HARRISBURG, PA — Attorney General Michelle Henry announced charges against two Bellwood Antis School District officials for their failure to protect students in light of sexual assault allegations against a junior high wrestling coach.
The coach, Ryan Blazier, was previously convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to prison in June 2023. The recent charges filed by the Office of Attorney General target Charles Burch, 52, the school’s former athletic director, and Timothy Andrekovich, 59, the former head varsity wrestling coach.
Burch faces charges of intimidating a witness, specifically threatening a student victim of Blazier, to discourage reporting the abuse. Andrekovich is charged with endangering the welfare of children for his failure to enforce a safety plan that would have restricted Blazier’s access to students during the investigation of his sexual assaults.
Both Burch and Andrekovich were arraigned on Thursday, with bail set at $50,000 unsecured for each defendant.
Attorney General Henry emphasized the breach of trust by these school district employees, who were responsible for student safety but failed to act accordingly. She reaffirmed the commitment of her office to protect children and hold accountable those who enable abusive behavior.
An investigation found that despite being informed in December 2019 of the allegations against Blazier and a subsequent safety plan, Andrekovich allowed Blazier unsupervised access to students. Burch allegedly threatened a student victim in February 2020 to prevent further disclosure of the abuse.
The Attorney General’s office urges anyone with information about child predators to contact the Attorney General’s Child Predator Section at 1-800-385-1044 or report child abuse to the Pennsylvania ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313.
