Teacher suspended, allegedly gave students alcohol, a strip club visit

CEDAR LAKE, Ind., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A Cedar Lake, Ind., high school teacher was suspended for allegedly taking three students to a local strip club, school officials said.

Hanover Central High School chemistry teacher Travis Lechien, 31, was charged by police with three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and has been suspended without pay, The Times of Northwest Indiana reported Wednesday.

Leichin's probable cause affidavit said he allowed students, the number not given but some under the age of 18, to drink beer and other alcoholic beverages at his home, as well as sample flavored tobacco from a hookah. He then took some of the students to a strip club in nearby Hammond to celebrate a student's birthday.

While the sheriff's department has filed charges against Lechien, a teacher for 10 years at the school, the investigation remains open, sheriff spokeswoman Patti Van Til said.