http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.ar.teacher16jan16,0,6750454.storyAn Anne Arundel County high school teacher has confessed to having sex with a 17-year-old student on multiple occasions, according to police and charging documents.
Kristyn Nicole Breeds, 29, a special-education teacher and indoor track coach at Northeast High School in Pasadena, has been charged with three counts of fourth-degree sex offense for what police called an "improper relationship" with a male student, according to Lt. James Fredericks, a spokesman for the county police. The charge is a misdemeanor.
Breeds, in an interview with a county police detective, "admitted to the sexual relationship," according to the charging documents.
Breeds, of the 200 block of Kathleen Ave. in Severna Park, was arrested Thursday, Fredericks said.
The charging documents said she told police that she and the 17-year-old had sex at the park-and-ride lot on Leelyn Drive in Severna Park, at her Severna Park home and at Queenstown Park.
"She advised the sexual relationship started in the spring [of] 2009 and continued until December 2009," the charging documents state.
At a brief bail review hearing, Annapolis District Judge Thomas J. Pryal ordered Breeds, who was initially held on $500,000 bail, released on her own recognizance.
Assistant State's Attorney Laura Caspar said, "She has harmed this 17-year-old in a manner he may not be able to recover from."
A monitor showed Breeds crying and sniffling in the jail as she told Pryal she was not a danger to herself or anyone else and asked to be released on recognizance.
Her parents and family in the courtroom voiced support for her, and a brother called out, "I love you."
"I'm here to support her in whatever she needs to have happen," a man who identified himself as her father, Gary Breeds, told Pryal.
The maximum jail sentence for each count is one year.
At a news conference Friday at school headquarters in Annapolis, Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell said Breeds, who has worked at the school since 2006, was suspended from her job Thursday.
"We find this unacceptable," said Maxwell, adding that he is "absolutely more than outraged." "We're not happy at all that this is where we are."
A parent of a student at the school first informed Northeast's principal, Kathy Kubic, on the afternoon of Dec. 18 after overhearing comments about an alleged relationship between Breeds and the student. The Baltimore Sun does not name alleged victims of sex crimes.
Kubic alerted her superiors that same day, and on Dec. 22, after offices reopened following several snow-related school closures, the school system contacted the county Child Protective Services agency.
The first day back from holiday vacation on Jan. 4, Breeds was reassigned to a position at the central office. On Jan. 8, the school system, after obtaining "additional information," again contacted the county police, as well as Child Protective Services.
After police filed charges Thursday, Maxwell suspended Breeds with pay but said he plans to ask the county Board of Education to suspend her without pay.
Maxwell added that the school would provide "whatever support" the boy and his family need.
A letter to parents went home Friday informing them of the situation. Schools spokeswoman Maneka S. Monk said many students at the school Friday took advantage of counseling services provided by the school system.
In a statement, Ned Carey, the school board president, said he was "outraged."
"I am appalled and outraged that the Northeast community has to go through this," Carey said. "When parents send their children to school, they look to teachers and other school system employees as role models who will help shape successful futures for their children. When that doesn't happen, they rightfully feel let down. I feel the same way today."
This is not the first time a Northeast High teacher has been accused of having sex with a student. In 1993, Ronald W. Price was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for sexually abusing three students. Price died in 1998.
Topic: Arundel teacher admits sex with student (Read 1732 times)