ROCKVILLE — If a high-school coach has sex with a 16-year-old student, did that coach commit a crime? In Maryland, that depends.
“Right now, it’s illegal for a teacher or coach to have sex with someone under the age of 18 if that person is ‘under their care or custody,’’’ at the time, explains Lisae Jordan with the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
But she says a quirk in Maryland law carves out an exception.
“The law only prohibits teachers and coaches from having sex with children at other times if they are working for the school.”
Jordan has lobbied to close that loophole in Annapolis. A bill that would have narrowed the exemption failed in the Maryland state legislature in the last legislative session.
That loophole in the law comes into play in a recent case in Montgomery County. The family of a 16-year-old member of the Walter Johnson High School crew club alleged that a part-time coach exchanged thousands of text messages with the teen and eventually met her at a country club in September, where they claim the two had sex.
Attorney Norman Schneider filed a civil suit against the Walter Johnson High School Crew Club. The coach, who was employed by the crew club, can’t be charged with a crime because he was not a school employee and wasn’t in direct supervision of the girl at the time of the alleged incident.
Instead, Schneider filed a civil suit against the crew club that alleged emotional distress and assault. Schneider also alleged that the club failed to properly vet the coach.
ABC7 first reported on the lawsuit. The coach — who is not named because he has not been charged with a crime in this case — told the TV station that the allegations were “bogus.”
WTOP’s attempts to contact the coach were unsuccessful.
WTOP contacted the Walter Johnson High School crew club for comment. Stuart Bassin, acting as spokesman for the club, said he couldn’t comment beyond the fact that the coach, who is no longer with the team, worked as a strength and conditioning coach for eight to 10 hours a week.
Bassin said the coach has not been with the club “for some time.” He said he could not comment on Schneider’s claim that the club failed to properly vet the coach.
The crew club at Walter Johnson High School Crew Club is a nonprofit organization, independent of Montgomery County’s public school system. The club’s coaches are not school employees.
In 2012, a Montgomery County Public School employee was arrested over allegations that he had sex with a high school student where he coached part time. But because of a legal loophole, the case was dropped.
Maryland state law stipulates that sexual contact between students and full-time permanent employees was prohibited. While the coach was a full-time employee at an MCPS middle school, he was a part-time coach at the high school where the 16-year-old student attended, so he could not be prosecuted.
That loophole has since been closed.
