A former teacher’s assistant at a Howard County, Maryland, high school has been arrested and charged with sexual offenses against a 17-year-old student.
Divaughn Vanez Furby, 29, of Columbia, is being held without bond on a variety of sex offense charges, the Howard County police said in a release Tuesday. They didn’t detail the charges.
Furby was a teaching assistant at Wilde Lake High School, according to a letter to the community from school principal Marcy Leonard. Long Reach High School’s Josh Wasilewski said in his own letter that Furby also worked there.
Leonard said in her letter that school administrators put Furby on leave and contacted the police last spring when they heard rumors of his misconduct.
The police said Furby hasn’t worked in the school system this school year. They said he worked at the Roger Carter Community Center in Ellicott City, and no longer works there “as a result of his arrest.”
The police said they started investigating when they got information that he had been having sex with a minor, and talked with the victim, as well as looking at cellphone data. The police think the offenses happened off school property.
“While the charge is not due to contact with a Long Reach student, I am deeply distressed,” Wasilewski said in his letter.
Both principals encouraged parents to have conversations with their children — to ask about what they have been hearing, to teach about healthy relationships and to keep an eye on their friends if they suspect anything.
The police are asking anyone with any more information about Furby to call them at (410) 313-STOP.
