FALLSBURG � The news spread like wildfire across town last Thursday when the story broke that morning. Tom Nolan, a 39-year-old social studies teacher in the Ellenville Central School District, was arrested by the New York State Police out of Liberty on October 22. He was charged with rape in the third degree and endangering the welfare of a child, a class E felony and a misdemeanor, respectively. The victim in the case was a female 16-year-old student in the Ellenville Central School District. Nolan was formerly the coach of girls' basketball and girls' golf at Ellenville High School, but stepped down from his coaching responsibilities before the fall 2009 season.

Nolan was arraigned in the Town of Fallsburg court, and posted the $25,000 bail.

According to Senior Investigator Michael Orrego, the incidents were ongoing throughout the summer months of 2009 in Loch Sheldrake. Nolan is a resident of Loch Sheldrake, though it has not been released if the alleged incidents took place at his home.

"We, in conjunction with the village of Ellenville police, received information that this was an ongoing course of conduct conducted by him," said Orrego.

Ellenville Chief Mattracion said he was notified by School Superintendent Lisa Wiles that she was in possession of information regarding allegations against Nolan. At this point the police opened an investigation. When it was discovered that the alleged crimes took place outside of the Ellenville Police's jurisdiction, Chief Mattracion turned the department's information over to the State Police in Liberty.

"The investigation is continuing," said Chief Mattracion. "We're still looking into whether or not there were more victims." When asked if there was evidence pointing to that fact, the chief said, "We have some pretty good information that there's a potential for more victims, but we don't know at this point if there is."

According to Chief Mattracion, if found guilty of rape in the third degree, a defendant could face between half a year to four years in prison, in addition to having to register as a sex offender. The third degree rape charge is defined as someone over 21 engaging in sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 17. If found guilty of the misdemeanor child endangerment charge, a defendant could face up to a year in prison.

On the day of the arrest, Ellenville School Superintendent Lisa Wiles issued a press release informing that Nolan had been placed on administrative leave. While on leave, Nolan will still be drawing a paycheck from the district.

"We're required contractually and by education law to continue paying someone," said Wiles.

When asked if there had been any other similar allegations of a teacher engaging in sexual misconduct with a student, Wiles said, "Not since my tenure as the superintendent here." Wiles's hire date was in August, 2004.

As for what's going on in the classroom, Wiles confirmed that the school has a substitute teaching Nolan's social studies classes while he's on leave, but could not offer any more specific information about how the classes would proceed, or whether there is one substitute handling the classes for the entirety of Nolan's absence.

Superintendent Wiles also offered some information about the chain of command regarding students with questions about the situation.

"If there's any questions on how to handle anything, the teachers speak to their respective principals if there's a situation or a question that comes up," she said. "I'm going to leave it at that � the teachers have that information, and they have access to their principals if students have questions."

Students React
In the week since the news broke, former and current students of the district have made their voices heard regarding the allegations via Facebook, the popular online social networking website. The posters have come down either for or against the teacher, who, according a former student who spoke with the paper, was a polarizing figure among the student body because of an alleged favoritism towards female athletes.

The former student of Nolan's, who wished to remain anonymous, said that while she was surprised to hear the allegations, it didn't come as a total shock. Asked if she had any inkling of possible misconduct between Nolan and students while she was in his class, she said, "Not while I was a student. He's always had certain students that he favored � 99 percent of the time it was girl athletes that were on one of his teams, basketball players usually. He really obviously favored them over other people in the class. He would make them his babysitters; they would go on trips with him and his kids.

"I always thought that he was one step too close to some of the girls sometimes than was appropriate," she continued. Asked to elaborate, the former student said, "I never thought that he was actually doing anything with any of the girls, he just was always�like I said, he had certain girls that he would treat differently, but never in, like, a sexual way. He would always talk to girls in his classroom [after class], but in a nice sort of fatherly way."

Nolan is due back in the Town of Fallsburg court on November 2 at 1 p.m.