Howard County police have charged a River Hill High School teacher with sex offenses involving two students ? the second time this week a Howard County teacher has faced such allegations.
Alan Meade Beier, 52, of Columbia, was charged Friday with three counts of sexual child abuse, three counts of second-degree assault and three counts of a fourth-degree sex offense in two separate incidents that police said occurred at the school.
Howard County Board of Education chairwoman Diane Mikulis said she was shocked by the news.
“I?m struggling with all of this, professionally and personally, since I have a child at the school and one who graduated from there,” Mikulis said. “It?s very troubling, confusing and difficult.”
A 16-year-old male student reported that last week Beier told him to come to the school around 6 p.m. to obtain community service hours for school, police said. Beier arrived with camera equipment he said was needed to prepare for a school event, police said.
Beier snapped photos of the boy, then encouraged him to remove various articles of clothing, police said. The boy told police Beier removed articles of the boy?s clothing and took photographs of him wearing no clothes.
Detectives served a search warrant at Beier?s home Jan. 9 and recovered photos of the boy that matched those he had described to police.
Police also said a 17-year-old female student reported Beier fondled her during class on two occasions last year.
Beier did not return a phone call seeking comment.
In an unrelated case, police charged Glenelg High School teacher Joseph Samuel Ellis, 25, last Saturday after two girls, 16 and 17, told officers that he sent the students inappropriate text messages, exposed himself and touched them on separate occasions.
Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said, “It?s certainly unusual to have two in the same week. They are unrelated. We don?t think they are indicative of any emerging trend.”
