Maryland middle school teacher sentenced for having sex with 14-year-old student more than 20 times

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (TCN) -- A 32-year-old former middle school teacher has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for having sexual relations with a 14-year-old student multiple times.

According to an initial press release from the Montgomery County Department of Police, in October 2023, the victim came forward and alleged he had sex with Melissa Curtis beginning in 2015. Curtis was 22 years old at the time and worked as a teacher at Montgomery Village Middle School, where the victim attended school.

Per WTTG-TV, prosecutors said Curtis ran an after-school program the 14-year-old victim was volunteering for, and the two were often alone together. Curtis reportedly sexually assaulted the victim for months until the end of April 2015.

According to WTTG, Curtis gave the 14-year-old alcohol and marijuana, and they had sex more than 20 times while he was in eighth grade.

Charging documents reviewed by WDCW-TV say the victim, who is now 22 years old, claimed Curtis touched him inappropriately at the school, performed oral sex on him, kissed him in a vehicle, and had sex with him twice in the defendant's mother's home. The victim also reportedly told authorities Curtis touched his penis with her feet at a movie theater and had sex with him at his residence.

Curtis pleaded guilty in June to three counts of third-degree sex offense, and she was sentenced on Nov. 15 to 30 years in prison. WTTG reports she'll serve the sentence with all but 12 months suspended and five years of supervised probation following her release.

Curtis will have to register as a sex offender for 25 years and cannot have unsupervised contact with minors other than her own children.

A spokesperson told WTTG Curtis left the school district in 2017.

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