A former Howard teacher convicted of sexually abusing a student must stay in prison despite “inhumane” conditions and a beating from other inmates who labeled him a “pedophile,” a Howard Circuit judge ruled Thursday.
Alan Beier, 54, asked Judge Diane Leasure to release him on bail or home detention while he appeals his conviction, claiming news coverage caused several inmates at the Baltimore City Correctional Center to enter Beier’s cell Aug. 5 and beat him for being a “child molester.”
Beier was treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center for a broken nose and lacerations to his face and then transferred to the Metropolitan Transition Center in Baltimore City, where was held in a 24-hour segregation cell will no windows, blankets or showers for three days, said his attorney, Robert Woods.
Woods said segregation was “horrific,” and Beier was unsafe in the general population, because inmates misinterpret the child sex abuse conviction to mean Beier is a “child molester” and “pervert.”
“To the inmates … if you’re a child molester, you’re open game,” Woods said.
“It’s almost nonsensical to think this is not going to happen again. … Every time he’s mentioned in the press, he’s going to be beaten and attacked.”
Beier photographed a 16-year-old boy nude in his River Hill High School classroom in 2007, but Woods said the boy suffered no physical injuries and graduated from high school while Beier lost everything.
Prosecutor Mary Murphy said the comparison was “not appropriate” and Beier has only served about three months of his four-year sentence.
Leasure denied Beier’s request, saying violence within the prison was “deplorable,” but the correctional facility, not the judge, should be responsible for the welfare of the inmates.
“Jail is probably not a place anybody wants to spend a lot of time,” she said.
Angered by the decision, Beier kicked his feet and began to cry.
He shouted that he would wind up dead as he left the courtroom.
He is being held at the Jessup Transition Center, where he has not suffered any physical attacks.
Beier also is accused of sexually abusing another boy by taking photographs of him as a promotion for the Mr. River Hill High School Contest in April 2006.
And a third victim, a 17-year-old female student, alleges Beier fondled her.
Those cases have not yet gone to trial.
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