Warwick School District fired band instructor Michael Gottier just days after he allegedly had intimate contact with a 16-year-old female band member, according to court documents.

That same day, Sept. 29, school officials notified Lititz police about the alleged relationship.

The 22-year-old former band-front instructor was charged Friday with one count of corruption of minors for allegedly having inappropriate contact with the girl on several occasions in September at Speedwell Forge Lake.

Gottier's arrest comes a month after former Warwick band director Todd Sheerer pleaded guilty to six counts of corruption of minors for engaging in a two-year sexual relationship with one of his students.

Sheerer, who was fired April 1, is awaiting sentencing.

According to a statement released Monday by the district, acting superintendent Robert Lombardo received information Sept. 27 that Gottier "may have had inappropriate contact with a student."

The administration "immediately initiated an investigation" and "promptly took action," according to the statement.

That day, the district banned Gottier from school property and forbade him from having any contact or interaction with students, the statement said.

On Sept. 29, the district notified Lititz Borough police, who began investigating.

The case was turned over to state police after investigators determined that Gottier and the girl had become physically intimate at and around Speedwell Forge in Elizabeth Township.

According to an arrest affidavit, Gottier began communicating with the girl — who has not been identified because she is a minor — via cellular phone, text messages and the Facebook Internet site.

Gottier had physical contact with the alleged victim "various times" from Sept. 22 to Sept. 27, according to the affidavit.

Their first encounter began when Gottier picked up the girl in his car at Freeze and Frizz restaurant in Lititz and drove to Speedwell Forge Lake, investigators said.

They kissed in his car, then walked toward the Speedwell dam off Zartman Mill Road and "passionately kissed," according to the affidavit. Gottier then touched the girl's breasts and genitals.

In a later encounter, Gottier picked up the girl at Lititz Springs Park, drove to the lake and took her onto the trails off Speedwell Forge Road, where they kissed, investigators said.

Gottier told police he knew the girl was 16 when he began the relationship, investigators said.

On Oct. 29, the alleged victim told investigators she believed Gottier loved her, according to the affidavit.

The girl also confided that she and Gottier "surreptitiously met and communicated together several times a day" and touched and kissed each other, the affidavit said.

Gottier was arraigned Friday before District Judge Daniel Garrett and released on $25,000 bail.

He faces a maximum prison sentence of 5 years.

Warwick spokeswoman Lori Zimmerman said Gottier was hired in mid-August on a part-time basis to work with members of the high school band.

Warwick school board fired him, retroactive to Sept. 29, at its Oct. 21 meeting.

Gottier also was an assistant band and drill instructor at Owen J. Roberts High School in Chester County.

The school board in that district approved his resignation, retroactive to Sept. 30, on Oct. 13, according to the district's Web site.

Zimmerman said she did not know why Warwick was able to take such quick action against Gottier, in contrast to Sheerer, who was arrested Jan. 21 but not fired until April 1.

At the time, district officials said Sheerer was entitled to a termination hearing that would have involved testimony from his victim.

At the request of the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office, Warwick agreed to wait until Sheerer waived his right to the hearing so the victim would not have to testify before the case went to court.

When asked what steps Warwick has taken, in response to the Sheerer and Gottier cases, to prevent inappropriate contact from occurring at Warwick schools, Zimmerman said Lombardo declined to discuss the issue.

In addition to Gottier and Sheerer, two other music or choir directors at Lancaster County public schools have been charged in recent months with having inappropriate relationships with their students.

Norman McMillan III, former choir director at McCaskey High School, is accused of having sex with a McCaskey student for more than a year, beginning in November 2005, at several city locations, including the high school.

Robert E. Richards, former music teacher and band director at Columbia Junior/Senior High School, is accused of having several sexual encounters with a Columbia student in 2007, when she was 15 and 16 years old, in the high school and at his home.

Richards and McMillan are awaiting trial.

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com