Neshaminy High School’s Jerry Devine pleads guilty to harassment (VIDEO)
LANGHORNE – Former Neshaminy boys varsity basketball coach Jerry Devine has pleaded guilty to a summary charge of harassment. The charge had been leveled against him in connection with physical contact he made with an official during a Jan. 5 basketball game that cost him his coaching job.
Sources say that last week, Devine came into the office of Bucks County Magisterial District Court Judge Daniel Baranoski in Penndel and paid a $300 fine and another $154.99 in court costs associated with the violation.
The harassment charge was tantamount to being issued a traffic ticket and Devine could have chosen to try to beat the ticket by requesting a hearing. He chose not to.
He also could have been hit with up to 90 days in jail but in this case, the court chose not to.
The coach was officially dismissed from his coaching position Jan. 26 at a Neshaminy School Board meeting. Neshaminy Acting Superintendent Gloria Hancock has confirmed the decision by the school board.
The 42-year-old coach – who is also a teacher at the high school – was permitted to return to the classroom on Jan. 12. He’s taught in the district for 15 years and was the basketball coach for 10, guiding the boys varsity team to a 1-7 record this season.
Before he was dismissed, Devine had been suspended from his coaching duties since making contact – some said it was a head butt – with an official after disagreeing with a call delivered by the referee late in a close battle with Suburban One League (SOL) rival Pennsbury, a Jan. 5 contest that was won by the Falcons.
Devine was ejected from the game after confronting the referee while protesting an offensive foul call made during that evening’s battle between Neshaminy and Pennsbury.
Video seen on the WBCB 1490 AM radio website seemed to show the coach chest-thumping the official. However, film footage seen from the side-angle and that seen on many television news stations in the Delaware Valley, showed that perhaps more aggression was shown by the coach. Some said it looked more like a head-butt.
The incident has also been under review by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), the state agency that governs scholastic sports in Pennsylvania. Rod Stone, a spokesperson for District One, the PIAA organization that oversees Southeastern Pennsylvania, said that the district had received a preliminary report from the school district and that it was expecting a final report containing any actions leveled against the coach.
The District One Committee will look at the Neshaminy report and determine if any further action is necessary. If the D-1 Committee is not satisfied with the actions taken by the school district, it can convene a hearing of its own and hand down penalties in accordance with Article XIII, Section 9 of the PIAA by-laws.
Those by-laws state that: “A coach who intentionally strikes, bites or kicks a contestant, coach, an official or any other person in attendance at the contest … shall be disqualified by the Regional Panel or District Committee … for a period of not less than one year from the date of either the incident leading to the suspension or the date of the hearing to consider the matter.”
Neshaminy Athletic Director Tom Magdelinskas appointed varsity assistant John Mason interim coach in Devine’s absence on Jan. 6 as the Redskins had a road game with SOL Continental conference rival Pennridge that evening in Perkasie.
Mason has not been given the position on a more permanent basis, however.
Contact the author at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
