Six days before his scheduled sentencing for sex crimes against two students, a former Bucks County middle school teacher killed himself Saturday at his home in Northeast Philadelphia.
Jeffrey Anderson, 23, left a suicide note saying he could not live with what he had done, prosecutors said.
The certainty of spending at least 10 years in state prison “was like death to him,” added Anderson’s defense attorney, Sara Webster. “In his mind, his life was over.”
Until his arrest in May, Anderson had been a Central Bucks School District swim coach and a substitute teacher at Tohickon Middle School in Plumstead Township.
The La Salle University graduate pleaded guilty July 31 to several felony and misdemeanor sex crimes involving two Tohickon ninth-grade girls, ages 14 and 15. Two counts were first-degree felonies carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 to 20 years.
Anderson was found in his bathroom Saturday night by his parents, who were visiting from Georgia, Webster said. He had died of asphyxiation from carbon monoxide poisoning, said Jeff Moran, spokesman for the Philadelphia Medical Examiner.
He apparently had taken an outdoor grill into the room and died from the fumes, Webster said.
According to court records, Anderson and the teens had begun a salacious online relationship via instant messaging and Facebook.com Web sites that soon turned physical.
He had kissed both of the girls in a school classroom before arranging to meet with them at the home of one of the teens on a Saturday in April when the girl’s parents were away. He had sexual contact with both of them there, court documents say.
The girls’ parents confronted the teens after computer-monitoring software revealed that they had been communicating with Anderson. After the girls disclosed the sexual contact, the parents summoned police.
Anderson “was very remorseful, and he truly regretted what he had done,” Webster said. “From the beginning, he admitted his crimes. He said, ‘I did something wrong, and as a teacher, I should have known better.’ ”
Anderson left a three-page suicide note, First Assistant District Attorney David Zellis said. In it, he acknowledged his loved ones’ “unconditional love, even after the monster inside was revealed. But I cannot live with what I have done.”
The note was signed, “With much regret, Jeff.”
Webster said Anderson was upset about the lengthy sentence he faced. Pennsylvania’s newly enacted Jessica’s Law provisions doubled the mandatory minimum sentences for many sex crimes involving minors.
There was also the possibility that, if his sentences were imposed one after the other, instead of concurrently, Anderson could have faced 20 to 40 years, Webster said.
“So for a 23-year-old kid who loved the outdoors and loved his family, this was an appalling sentence,” Webster said. “I think the law has gone too far in taking away the judge’s discretion in sentencing people such as this. You don’t have a sociopath here, though certainly he deserved punishment.”
Anderson still had many supporters, Webster said, especially among parents of swimmers he had coached. Many had planned to testify at his sentencing Friday in Doylestown before Judge Albert J. Cepparulo.
“They were doing it because of what a fine coach and mentor he had been,” Webster said. “In many ways he was an exceptional human being.”
Now, she said, some of those swim-team supporters are planning a memorial.
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May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
he looks so gay
he looks so gay
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
rip man i noe god …
rip man i noe god ill forgive you and you ill be in heaven
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
This is exactly …
This is exactly what I thought, hah
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
omigosh this was so …
omigosh this was so freaky. He taught almost every student in the school at some point..
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
gorgeousmuch26, …
gorgeousmuch26, bullshit. you said this guy was trying to touch guys and girls…if that was true, he would have been busted long before he got caught with 2 girls.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Disgusting filth he …
Disgusting filth he was.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Can’t those little …
Can’t those little say no? They’re plenty old enough-they’re not little kids-see what trouble you caused little bitches?
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
hahaha funny shit
hahaha funny shit
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
looks like you too …
looks like you too HAHA
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I am sorry for your …
I am sorry for your loss…
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Dude I’m a die hard …
Dude I’m a die hard Randal Graves fan… you scared the crap outta me!!! XD
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
What about these …
What about these slutty female teachers w/ no remorse they get a slap in the wrist. males get years & look down on as perverts. that is not riight men have the f…up end of the bargain same when women beat on their men. shoot we need to protect our men too.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
i kno u jeff
i kno u jeff
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
HOLY my names …
HOLY my names Jeffrey Anderson
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
me too, i was …
me too, i was freaking out. i wasz like “Should i watch this or not??!” i was frantic till i saw that it was dated last year. and i was all “There was a zombie in zack and miri!!!” lol, great flick by the way, check it out if you havent seen it.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I want to see the …
I want to see the video of him killing himself, man.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
same here i was …
same here i was like wtf? glad thats been cleared up
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
So did I, mainly …
So did I, mainly because I linked to this from a Clerks II video.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
pedifeil
pedifeil
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
haha the girls now …
haha the girls now go to east and last year when they were playin us in basketball the girls were at the game. so we all started chanting like murderes and and stuff like that. and the girls were havin a good time laughing and all. they showed no remorese. and this was only like a week after the guy killed himself.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
None of you people …
None of you people know what you’re talking about. He was my teacher. I always had him for a substitute and I knew him very well. I didn’t think he would have sex with girls, but kill himself? When I found that out, I was almost in tears. He didn’t force it upon the two girls. They wanted it just as much as he did. They even kissed and felt each other in the school. I miss Mr. Anderson so much. I remember the police coming to our school and everyone got freaked out.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Neither should he …
Neither should he have tried to
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
i know me too
i know me too
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I almost thought …
I almost thought this was about the actor of Clerks 1 & 2
glad I was wrong
May 31st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Yes in this case …
Yes in this case american law was right, end of story its no one else’s fault, shame on those two girls parents for not being there to teach them right from wrong, and shame on the grown man “fresh out of college,” (no excuse what so ever by the way), for around with the 14 or 15 year old girls. “I don’t know that he wasn’t a child molester, But I’m pretty certain.” How are you certain if you don’t know? Get out of here.