A former Montgomery County, Maryland, teacher who pleaded guilty in June to engaging in sex acts with an underage middle school student in 2015, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, but will only spend a year behind bars, according to reports.
FOX 5 DC reported that while 32-year-old Melissa Marie Curtis was sentenced to three decades for three counts of third-degree sex offense, she will only spend 12 months behind bars, with the remainder of the time suspended.
In addition to the 12 months, Curtis will be required to undergo five years of supervised probation. Once released, she will be required to register as a sex offender for 25 years. Curtis will also not be allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors other than her own children.
The charges stem from an investigation launched in October 2023, after the victim came forward with allegations that he engaged in sex acts with Curtis years prior when she was a teacher at Lakelands Park Middle School while he was a student.
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The incidents began in 2015, according to prosecutors, when the victim was 14, and Curtis was 22.
The student volunteered for an after-school program run by Curtis, and the two of them were often left alone together.
An investigation found that the sexual assaults happened over the course of several months, until eventually ending in April 2015. The assaults also happened at different locations, including at the school, inside Curtis’ car, and at her mother’s house in Montgomery County.
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Court documents also claimed Curtis gave the victim alcohol and marijuana, and that she had sex with the teen over 20 times while he was in eighth grade.
Investigators acquired an arrest warrant for Curtis on Oct. 31, 2023, charging her with sexual abuse of a minor and multiple counts of third- and fourth-degree sexual offenses.
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She ultimately turned herself in to police on Nov. 7, 2023.
Curtis reportedly pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree sex offense on June 20, and she was sentenced on Friday.
While the sexual offenses occurred in 2015, a spokesperson for Montgomery County Public Schools told the station Curtis left the district in 2017.
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