A former Archbald police
officer and school resource officer at Valley View High School is on the other
side of the law tonight.
Travis Chamberlain is accused
of destroying two cell phones, which may have contained evidence that he was
having a relationship with a teenage girl, who may have been a student at the
time.
According to the Archbald
police chief, Chamberlain had been an officer since September 2009.
He offered to resign last
month, well after this investigation was underway.
Prosecutors say the 26-year-old
could have faced even more serious charges but in this case the timing and
destroyed cell phones would have been critical.
Investigators say Chamberlain
wasn't the full-time school resource officer at Valley View High School. He
filled in for approximately three months earlier this year when he may have
crossed the line.
His arrest has people talking.
"You can't trust anybody
and it's a sad, sad thing. I grew up trusting everybody, everybody,"
Beverly Black of Jermyn said.
According to court documents,
Chamberlain is accused of destroying two cell phones that may have contained
communication between him and the girl.
"It's a scary thought that
the police officers, the people we're putting in the schools to protect the
kids, are the ones we're most concerned with," Tom Conserette of Archbald
said.
As of right now, Chamberlain
has only been charged with one misdemeanor, tampering with physical evidence.
Deputy District Attorney
Jennifer McCambridge says Chamberlain "could possibly" have been
charged with more serious charges, including felony sex crimes, if they could
have established an inappropriate relationship started while the girl was a
student.
That's because of a new law
that holds employees of a school district to a higher position of power and
trust.
Because the cell phones were
destroyed, detectives say this investigation was hampered.
"Timing is important in
these types of crimes. The content of those messages and/or the timing of them
may have shed more light on exactly what was going on between them,"
McCambridge said.
McCambridge says while the
contact may have been legal if it started after graduation, the destruction of
the phones raises a red flag and sets a bad example for other school resource
officers who are placed in schools to help students.
"The majority of them do
the right thing and a good job at it. It's just unfortunate that these ones
that do the wrong thing and take the wrong action seem to always rise to the
forefront," McCambridge said.
Chamberlain's attorney declined
to comment on the case.
If the 26-year-old pleads
guilty or is found guilty, that would mean he could no longer be a police
officer.
Travis Chamberlain is the
brother of Matthew Chamberlain, a former police officer from Wyoming County who
recently made headlines for selling an AK-47 out of the back of a patrol
vehicle while on duty.
