Trial Ordered for Pa. Ex-Counselor Accused of Sex With Student

A former western Pennsylvania high school guidance counselor has been ordered to stand trial on charges of having had sex with a football player who came to her for help.

Thirty-three-year-old Lianne Danko of Rostraver was charged in Westmoreland County with four counts of institutional sexual assault on a student.

A district judge on Friday upheld the charges against the Ringgold counselor after a preliminary hearing.

Police said an 18-year-old student went to her to discuss relationship problems, and they allege that the two began exchanging intimate text messages and later met in a parking lot to have sex.

Defense attorney David Shrager said he will challenge a statute making it a crime for an educator to have sex with a student even if that student is 18 or older.