Prince George’s County, Maryland, officials are urging people to come forward with information about Mark Cobb, the elementary school teacher charged with sexually abusing one of his former students.
“We know that there are other victims out there,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said during a news conference Wednesday. “Sometimes we think that there might be other victims. In this case we know that there are other victims out there, and we want to get justice for them, too.”
Cobb, 44, who teaches at Cooper Lane Elementary School in Landover Hills, was arrested Monday after the 9-year-old girl he’s accused of abusing spoke to police, and officers searched Cobb’s home.
According to charging documents, that search turned up “several hundred files depicting child pornography.”
Cobb told police the young girl sent him sexually explicit images and that “he wanted to see how far she would go,” charging documents state. He also admitted asking to engage in sexual acts with the young girl, according to the documents.
“I just can’t imagine how sick a person has to be to have this type of conversation, a very sexually explicit conversation, with a 9-year-old,” Braveboy said. “It’s outrageous. So, the facts of every case are heartbreaking. This one is beyond what anyone could imagine. But, our job is to get justice and that’s what we’re going to do.”
And according to Braveboy, Cobb was also in possession of sexually explicit images of other children.
“We expect that if additional victims are local, that they will come forward to us, but at this time, we have the one victim that we know of,” Braveboy said. “But we do have images of other victims and we are going to try to identify them.”
Cobb is charged with sexually abusing a minor, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. He’s also charged with nine counts of possessing child pornography, each carrying a maximum of 5 years behind bars, and one count of child pornography promotion or distribution, which carries a maximum of 10 years.
He made his first appearance in court Wednesday, during which he was ordered held without bond. His next court appearance is set for Sept. 27.
Anyone with information related to this case is urged to call the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Child and Vulnerable Adult Abuse Unit at 301-772-4930.
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