Montgomery County school teacher arrested in Rockville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had he not been a coach/teacher no law would have been broken.

Not true. The student is a minor.

The girl must have been 15 at the time. 16 is legal in Maryland. But a 4th degree sex offense, which he is allegedly charged with, is with a minor who is 14 or 15 years old, with the defendant at least 4 years older.

Wrong. He was charged because he had a custodial obligation. The law says that the age of consent is 16 unless the other half is a coach, teacher, or anyone else taking the place of the parents.

[Anonymous]

What I read tonight was that Spear's attorney said that he offered to take a polygraph. Why would he do that if he were guilty? Are we forgetting that another MCPS teacher (Ronald Heller) was falsely accused of sexual contact with multiple students, who later admitted that they made it all up?

It is all too easy for teachers to be accused of wrongdoing and for their careers and lives to be ruined. People think that there needs to be a ton of evidence against someone in order for an arrest to be made, but that is not the case. It seems to me that the trend is toward 'guilty until proven innocent' anymore when it comes to allegations against teachers/coaches.

I would be the first one to say that it is wrong for an adult teacher/coach to have an inappropriate relationship with a student, but no longer do I automatically think that the adult in these cases is guilty and that the victim is telling the truth. We need to let the police do their job before we draw any conclusions.

[Anonymous]

Well said pp!!

[Anonymous]

Interesting points PP.

[Anonymous]

I have friends who had him as a coach in high school.
They do NOT think he's innocent.

So while I agree with your points, I also recognize that predators find jobs that provide easy access to kids.

Anonymous wrote:What I read tonight was that Spear's attorney said that he offered to take a polygraph. Why would he do that if he were guilty? Are we forgetting that another MCPS teacher (Ronald Heller) was falsely accused of sexual contact with multiple students, who later admitted that they made it all up?

It is all too easy for teachers to be accused of wrongdoing and for their careers and lives to be ruined. People think that there needs to be a ton of evidence against someone in order for an arrest to be made, but that is not the case. It seems to me that the trend is toward 'guilty until proven innocent' anymore when it comes to allegations against teachers/coaches.

I would be the first one to say that it is wrong for an adult teacher/coach to have an inappropriate relationship with a student, but no longer do I automatically think that the adult in these cases is guilty and that the victim is telling the truth. We need to let the police do their job before we draw any conclusions.

[Anonymous]

He's 47 years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's 47 years old.

If there really are texts, that, in itself seems strange. Why would a 47 yo man be texting a 16 yo female?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I read tonight was that Spear's attorney said that he offered to take a polygraph. Why would he do that if he were guilty? Are we forgetting that another MCPS teacher (Ronald Heller) was falsely accused of sexual contact with multiple students, who later admitted that they made it all up?

It is all too easy for teachers to be accused of wrongdoing and for their careers and lives to be ruined. People think that there needs to be a ton of evidence against someone in order for an arrest to be made, but that is not the case. It seems to me that the trend is toward 'guilty until proven innocent' anymore when it comes to allegations against teachers/coaches.

I would be the first one to say that it is wrong for an adult teacher/coach to have an inappropriate relationship with a student, but no longer do I automatically think that the adult in these cases is guilty and that the victim is telling the truth. We need to let the police do their job before we draw any conclusions.

The attorney said that because he knows that the police will not fall for that hollow trick. It is an attempt to taint the jury pool if the case goes to trial.