A school security guard at a Maryland high school was arrested a second time for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old female student.
Police officers say the guard had an “ongoing sexual relationship” with the student before he was arrested last month and charged with sexual abuse of a minor and fourth-degree sex offense involving the victim.
Mark Yantsos, who is on administrative leave as the security team leader at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Md., was arrested for a second time Friday. Prosecutors said he had several meetings with the girl after being released on bond following the first arrest, according to the New York Post.
In one encounter, they had sex and Yantsos gave her $100.
Students and parents expressed outrage to NBC4Washington.
“He’s the head of security, so everyone expects him to be trustworthy and, like, everyone relies on him to be safe,” Richard Montgomery Senior Kiomi Hori said.
“This guy was entrusted with our security, and he was the head of security, and to think he’s capable of doing something like that is really horrific,” Richard Montgomery Senior Michelle Dubovitsky said.
“I strongly believe in the presumption of innocence before one is adjudicated as guilty, but I find this man’s judgement to be very questionable at best,” said Anna Belgorodsky, a Richard Montgomery parent.
Fifty-seven-year old Yantsos was arrested last month for having inappropriate contact with the girl at the high school while he worked as the security team leader. He was placed on administrative leave as soon as the public school system learned of the allegations.
Yantsos was charged with sexual abuse of a minor and a fourth-degree sex offense, according to the Montgomery County Police.
In interviews with the victim, detectives learned that Yantsos befriended her in 2016 and purchased multiple gifts for her since then. In March 2017, he bought her a phone so they could communicate during and after school hours.
The victim told police Yantsos picked her up at her home and took her to a hotel in Rockville where he engaged in inappropriate contact with her. Text messages to the victim sent by Yantsos were provided to investigators.