A Howard judge is allowing warrants against a teacher accused of sexual abuse, despite the defense attorney?s efforts to throw them out because of offensive language and the detective?s inexperience.
Gerald Richman, defense attorney for former Glenelg High School teacher Joseph Ellis, 26, of Elkridge, tried Wednesday to suppress several search warrants, in part because Ellis was referred to as a child molester and pedophile.
“If that language is a cancer, as I allege, then the warrants are bad and don?t demonstrate probable cause,” said Richman, adding that Ellis is not a pedophile based on the legal definition because three victims were not prepubescent.
Howard Circuit Judge Richard Bernhardt upheld the warrants, but prohibited the use of “pedophile” and “child molester” in court.
Richman argued that the Howard detective seized Ellis? cell phone before obtaining the warrant.
“You can?t seize it, then obtain a warrant a week later to justify it,” Bernhardt said.
But Assistant State?s Attorney Lisa Broten said the warrant was obtained later, because it was meant for seizing the correspondence on the phone, not the phone itself.
“Police had probable cause to believe cell phones were being used in the furtherance of crimes against these children,” Broten said.
“It was imperative at that time to seize that cell phone,” she said, otherwise Ellis could have erased evidence from the phone before a warrant was obtained.
Bernhardt upheld the seizure of the cell phone.
Ellis was arrested after two female students, ages 16 and 17, reported to school officials that he sent sexual text messages to their cell phones.
The older student told Howard police that Ellis exposed himself to her while they were alone in a classroom in December and tried to force her to touch him.
She said he also sent her nude photographs of himself.
The 16-year-old told police Ellis committed a sex offense against her in a park in 2006.
