A Maryland teacher and former Democratic congressional candidate is charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student on school property, police said.
Maxwell Alexander Bero, 30, of Clarksburg, was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and multiple counts of committing a third-degree sexual offense after the now-19-year-old girl said he sexually assaulted her during incidents from August 2014 through June 2015, Montgomery County police said.
The alleged assaults took place when Bero taught the eighth-grader at Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School in Silver Spring, police said.
“The sexual interactions occurred after school hours on school property,” police said in a statement Wednesday.
An investigation was launched in June and detectives learned that Bero “engaged in inappropriate sexual contact” with the female student and exchanged sexually charged messages and materials with her, police said.
Bero, who is now teaching at Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg, was placed on administrative leave following his arrest, police said.
“These charges are deeply concerning and unacceptable and represent a complete breach of trust, responsibility, integrity and the law,” a Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson said in a statement to NBC Washington.
In June, Bero unsuccessfully ran in a Democratic primary in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, losing to incumbent David Trone, the New York Times reported.
Bero said his background as a teacher was an asset to his candidacy during an interview with Bethesda Magazine ahead of the primary.
“As a teacher and coach, I’m used to figuring out ways to motivate and inspire others, and develop creative solutions to problems, and I’m prepared to do the same in Washington,” Bero said.
Bero, who most recently taught social studies at Watkins Mill High School, also worked there as the boys’ varsity lacrosse coach and assistant varsity football coach, NBC Washington reports.
Detectives believe Bero may have assaulted other victims and urged anyone with additional information to contact authorities in Montgomery County.
An attorney for Bero, meanwhile, said Thursday he’s been “fully cooperative” with investigators and would release a detailed statement “at a future time” in response to the accusations.
“He is focused on addressing the allegations in the appropriate legal forum,” attorney Rene Sandler wrote The Post in an email.
