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New trial denied for teacher convicted of sexual abuse
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - A Howard Circuit judge denied a new trial Friday for the former River Hill High School teacher convicted of sexually abusing a Howard teenager by pulling down the boy’s pants and photographing him nude in a classroom after school.
Alan Beier, 53, of Columbia, was not present in court, but his attorney Joshua Treem argued that Beier deserved a new trial because his actions did not constitute sexual exploitation.
He said Beier never touched the boy or looked at his genitals and was not aroused by the photographs.
“There was no sexual contact, no touching,” Treem told Judge Diane Leasure.
“... There has to be some sexual benefit or else parents taking pictures of kids running naked on the beach could be exploitation.”
But Deputy State’s Attorney Mary Murphy said there was “more than ample evidence” that Beier sexually exploited the teenager, who is now 18, and Beier’s actions were for his sexual benefit.
Murphy recounted the boy’s testimony during the March trial, in which he said Beier asked him to come to the Clarksville school about 6 p.m. Jan. 8, 2007, and bring a bathing suit to pose in test photographs for the “Mr. River Hill High School” contest.
Beier then twice pulled down the boy’s boxer shorts and took photos of his exposed backside and of the boy covering his genitals with a ping-pong paddle, Murphy said.
Howard police later found photos of the boy uploaded onto two of Beier’s computers, Murphy said.
However, Leasure is considering whether to allow Treem’s request for a court hearing to challenge the affidavit police used to get a search warrant.
She will rule on that motion Monday when Beier is scheduled for sentencing on child sex abuse and second-degree assault convictions. He could face up to 35 years in prison.
Beier is the one of three Howard County public school teachers to be arrested during 2006-07 for accusations of having sexual contact with students.
Former Glenelg High School teacher Joseph Ellis, 27, was sentenced in April to five years in prison for sending one of his students sexually explicit e-mails, text messages and photos, and exposing his genitals to her.
Kirsten Kinley, 28, a former special education teacher at Marriotts Ridge High School in Marriottsville, is serving 18 months after pleading guilty in August to a sex offense with a teenage boy.
cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
1:00 PM MST on Tue., Aug. 5, 2008 re: "Ex-River Hill teacher charged with sex abuse to be re-indicted"
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12:07 PM MST on Mon., Jun. 9, 2008
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8:09 AM MST on Mon., Jun. 9, 2008
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7:07 AM MST on Sat., Jun. 7, 2008
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2:26 PM MST on Fri., Mar. 28, 2008
re: "Defense: Teacher didn’t exploit teen"
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5:35 AM MST on Fri., Mar. 28, 2008
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6:59 PM MST on Thu., Mar. 27, 2008
re: "Howard student testifies teacher took nude photographs of him"
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11:28 AM MST on Thu., Mar. 27, 2008
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3:59 AM MST on Thu., Mar. 27, 2008
re: "Howard student testifies teacher took nude photographs of him"
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Examiner Reader said:
This is happening all over the country. Go to www.schoolteachernews.com and click on the Scandal page. They have documented over 300 of these types of incidents since just the beginning of 2008.
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Greg from Bawlmer said:
How could anyone blame the boy? The teacher is at fault he betrayed his position of power over the student. He deserved to loose his job, he deserves never to hold another position around minors. I am unsure about jail time or being tortured with a ping pong paddle. He may enjoy either too much to benefit his mental problems.
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Examiner Reader said:
This is happening all over the country. Go to www.schoolteachernews.com and click on the Scandal page. They have documented over 245 of these types of incidents since just the beginning of 2008.
3 agree | 3 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
This is happening all over the country. Go to www.schoolteachernews.com and click on the Scandal page. They have documented over 245 of these types of incidents since just the beginning of 2008.
3 agree | 2 disagree
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Justice 4 All said:
Only a lawyer could come up with such a ridiculous defense. I'm sure this teacher will be very popular in whatever prison he is sent to.
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Examiner Reader said:
Predator or not....This teacher doesn't have the grey cells to teach if he didn't know that this would be a career ending incident. To 6:59, there is such a thing as a student being coerced by an authority figure. Of course the kid thought the whole thing was uncomfortable and weird. He just went along with what the teacher presented as an acceptable activity that clearly wasn't. Somebody should play ping pong with this teacher's ****!
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Examiner Reader said:
A couple things: yes, Mr. Beier was put on leave when the story first broke out and is now completely fired from his position, But personally, and I don't wish to be insensitive, I feel like the boy had the opportunity to make a decision not to go along with what the teacher was doing. He's a really big, muscular boy, and he wasn't being manhandled; i think that it's a bit weird that he didn't realize that the situation was bad from the start
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Examiner Reader said:
question 1: has the teacher been fired yet? he conceeded the photos. end of story.
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Examiner Reader and a Mom said:
Any Mom out there that can't think of at least 10 things they could do to this predator with a ping pong paddle!?
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