A well-known music teacher accused of sex crimes involving a 13-year-old boy from Tamaqua entered a guilty plea Monday in Schuylkill County Court.

Dale Schimpf, 71, Frackville pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault, corruptions of minors and indecent exposure. Schuylkill County President Judge William E. Baldwin sentenced him to 3 to 6 years in state prison, followed by four years probation. He will register as a Megan’s Law sex offender.

Schimpf was arrested in February 2019. A life-long music educator, at the time of his arrest he was a band teacher at Nativity BVM High School in Pottsville. Tamaqua Police picked up at the school after Tamaqua police learned of his inappropriate conduct with the Tamaqua teen.

In addition to his teaching career at Nativity, he has been an active member of the Cressona Band.

The victim and his mother contacted police after Schimpf allegedly had sex with the boy.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Tamaqua Criminal Investigator Thomas Rodgers, Schimpf was in contact with the boy through the online dating app “Grindr.”

Schimpf asked to meet the victim after saying he thought he was “cute and I like younger,” then sent him a photo of his genitals. He picked him up Friday at the boy’s home, took him to dinner and then to his home in Frackville, where the victim says he was forced to participate in sexual acts.

When interviewed by police, Schimpf admitted having sex with the young man, but said he was under the impression the boy was a 30-year-old man.

After police investigated the incidents involving Schimpf, they arrested three more men: Matthew Delgado, 29, Tamaqua; Charles Raymond Joy, 59, Port Carbon; and Brad Daniel Murphy, 26, Tamaqua. All four were arrested for sex crimes involving the same victim, a 13-year old boy from Tamaqua.

The defendants all contacted the victim through the cellphone dating app.

Last week, Delgado withdrew a prior not guilty plea and entered a guilty plea to corruption of minors – sexual acts.

Judge James Goodman sentenced him to 9 to 23 months in Schuylkill County Prison. After release, Delgado will be on probation for 5 years.

In the negotiated plea, the prosecution agreed to drop other charges, which included two counts statutory sexual assault of a victim between 11 and 16 years old and two counts involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person 16 or younger. Delgado must submit a DNA sample and will have Megan’s Law registration requirements.

In July, Joy pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and indecent assault charges. Joy had also been charged with statutory sexual assault, indecent sexual intercourse and corruption of minors; those charges were dropped. Joy also was required to comply with Meghan’s Law registration.

Murphy has not yet been scheduled for trial. His attorney, Christine Holman, filed a motion on Sept. 26 to dismiss his charges, To date no action has been taken.