Dad's Teen "Stripper Pole" Party

MARCH 2--The father of a Pennsylvania high school student is facing criminal charges for a party he threw in his home where teens as young as 14 drank rum, vodka, and beer and cheerleaders danced on a stripper pole he had installed in his basement.

According to the a probable cause affidavit filed by Bethlehem Township police, Steven Russo, 36, following a December basketball game, hosted a party where the teens spent most of their time in the basement drinking and listening to Russo's "sex stories about all the girls he has been with." Russo also acted as a DJ at the bash playing music and "shouting 'get on the pole!'" to female attendees.

In addition to the basement party room, he also allegedly kept a room on the second floor of his home that was referred to as "the cave"--a place "where people go to have sex."

Law enforcement became aware of the party last month after a student tipped off Freedom High School's cheerleading coach that pictures from the evening had appeared on Facebook.

As first reported by The Express-Times in Lehigh Valley, Russo is facing nine counts of endangering the welfare of children, eight counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, and nine counts of corruption of minors. (4 pages)