LITTLE VALLEY - Michael J. Dupont, a former Salamanca City School District seventh-grade teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a student in 2002, has pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
Dupont, 43, entered the guilty plea Monday on two counts of second-degree sodomy for the interactions that occurred during February 2002 and May 2002 with a 14-year-old boy. The first incident took place in the city of Salamanca, with the second taking place in the town of Salamanca.
Dupont also pleaded guilty to two counts of disseminating indecent material to minors, stemming from a January 2007 incident in the city of Salamanca in which he showed lewd material on a computer to two other minors.
According to Edward M. Sharkey, Cattaraugus County district attorney, the sodomy charges each carry sentences of 28 months to 7 years. The indecent material charges carry sentences of 16 months to 4 years each.
As another condition of the plea, Sharkey insisted that Dupont sign a form surrendering his teaching license to the New York State Education Department.
Sharkey says the procedure is something his office attempts to make standard practice in cases involving teachers.
''We did it with Mr. Gill also, the one up in Gowanda,'' Sharkey said, referring to Lawrence Gill, a business teacher who embezzled money from student organizations. ''We try to do it, and I think now it's pretty much pro form.''
Dupont was arrested at his home in Salamanca early in the morning on Oct. 18 after an investigation by the Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Department. He was immediately suspended by Salamanca City School District Superintendent Doug Hay.
''I know from the reports from the middle school principal and what interactions I had with Mike (that he was) very highly thought-of (and) a competent teacher,'' Hay said in October in regard to the charges against Dupont.
Sentencing in the case is scheduled for June 15.