Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – A man hired to keep people safe at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland was arrested this morning and charged with sexually abusing a 17-year-old student .
“On Monday, April 3 our special victims investigations division of detectives were notified by Montgomery County school officials that a school employee, a security employee, had engaged in ongoing sexual relationship at that high school where he worked,” said Montgomery County Police spokesperson Rebecca Innocenti.
The alleged victim told detectives Yantsos befriended her last year. Since then he has bought her gifts including a cell phone he could use to communicate with her. Investigators said they have copies of inappropriate text messages Yantsos recently sent the girl.s
According to the victim, on the night of March 3, 2017 Yantsos picked her up at her house, drove her to a hotel in Rockville and had sexual contact with her.
In a statement from Montgomery County Schools superintendent Dr. Jack Smith called the allegations “disturbing.”
“As Principal Monteleone stated in his letter to the community (included below), the behavior described in the charging document ‘represents an irreparable breach of trust, ethics and the law.’ Any adult who abuses their position and takes advantage of our students has no place in our schools or community,” Smith wrote.
He said the school system is vigilant in its efforts to keep students safe. This incident comes weeks after two illegal immigrants who attended school at Rockville High School allegedly raped a 14-year-old classmate in a school bathroom.
Below is Smith’s full statement:
“The allegations against Mark Yantsos, the security team leader at Richard Montgomery High School, are disturbing. As Principal Monteleone stated in his letter to the community (included below), the behavior described in the charging document “represents an irreparable breach of trust, ethics and the law.” Any adult who abuses their position and takes advantage of our students has no place in our schools or community.
“Additionally, it has come to our attention that in 1994, Mr. Yantsos was accused of using his revolver to menace a female while working for the New York Police Department. We have provided this information to the police.
“The safety of our students is paramount. In 2015, the Montgomery County Board of Education updated its policy regarding child abuse and neglect. Central to the updated policy are new practices, procedures and protocols to ensure students have a safe environment in which to learn. This includes:
• updated mandatory training of all full-time employees on recognizing and reporting child abuse; and
• the development of the Employee Code of Conduct, a document that summarizes the standards of conduct that MCPS and the broader community expect employees to follow.
We remain vigilant in our efforts to ensure all of our students are in a safe environment.”
The school’s principal sent out the following email:
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