HONESDALE – Senior Judge Raymond Hamill sent Gaspare Nicholas Gambino to the Wayne County Correctional Facility for six months to up to five years for six misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy. District Attorney Patrick L. Robinson said the man surreptitiously took pictures of students while he was a teacher at Honesdale High School.
The photographs were found on Gambino’s school-issued iPad, and six of them showed “the clothed but intimate areas of female students, which are not intended to be visible by normal public observation.” The District Attorney’s Office concluded the photos met the legal definition of Invasion of Privacy.
As a result of the guilty plea, Gambino will be required to register his home and work addresses as a Megan’s Law Offender for the next 15 years. Already fired by Wayne Highlands School District, Gambino also surrendered his PA Department of Education Instructional Certificate and has been banned from reinstatement or education employment eligibility.
DA Robinson said, “High-tech voyeurs such as Gambino will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The impact of someone taking abusive photographs will not be downplayed and will not be tolerated.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Kathleen Martin said, Gambino violated the trust not only of these students, but also of the Wayne Highlands School District and the entire Wayne County community.
“While technology enhances our ability to educate and works to keep us all more connected,” Martin explained, “it also requires law enforcement officials to be diligent in the investigation and prosecution of those who choose to violate our children and our trust. Thanks to the efforts of the (school district) and PA State Police, Gambino is no longer in a position to harm our children.”
The DA’s Office commends the administration of Wayne Highlands School District for their swift response to the discovery of these photographs and to the State Police for their investigation and the arrest of Gambino. “Together," DA Robinson said, “we will continue to keep our community safe from predators of all types.”