WASHINGTON – Charges against a teacher and coach accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student have been dropped due to a legal loophole.
Police say Scott Spear, 47, had sex with a female student from Richard Montgomery High School, where he coaches track and basketball, at least twice last year in a Rockville home. He was originally charged with two counts of a fourth-degree sex offense.
Those charged were dropped, however, because of a technicality in Maryland state law. It stipulates that in order for school personnel to be charged with having inappropriate sexual relationships with a student, the accused must be a “full-time, permanent employee.” In this case, Spear was not a full-time employee at Richard Montgomery. He teaches at Julius West Middle School.
Also, the age of consent in Maryland is 16, therefore the state could not move forward on the charges against him, officials say.
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