Judge Finds Probable Cause in Sex Abuse Case

By Isabelle Chiu [former] - July 21, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Sex Abuse | Sexual Assault | Suspects |

During a preliminary hearing on July 20, DC Superior Court Judge Milton Lee found probable cause in a sex abuse case between a teacher and a student. 

The 40-year-old defendant is charged with first-degree child sex abuse for allegedly engaging in romantic and sexual activities with multiple under-aged victims. At the time of the alleged offenses, the defendant was the victim’s teacher. 

According to court documents, the defendant is also accused of engaging in sexual activities with multiple other students. These investigations were separate from this case. 

The prosecutor called the lead detective in charge of the investigation. 

The detective said he initially contacted the complainant as a part of another investigation into another former student’s allegations against the defendant. During a phone interview, the complainant “broke down and became emotional” and said she and the defendant had been in a romantic relationship while she was still a student. 

Throughout the investigation, the complainant provided screenshots of her text conversations and emails with the defendant to the detective, which the prosecutor showed in court. 

Defense attorney Jacqueline Cadman cross-examined the detective on the findings of previous investigations into the defendant’s conduct with students. Cadman asked the detective about an investigation into allegations in 2019 that the defendant engaged in sexual activity with students. 

The detective said a student reached out to him in the course of the 2019 investigation and said while the defendant was “overly playful” with students, he had never made any “creepy advances” and was never inappropriate. The investigation was closed afterward. 

The detective also said he closed an investigation into an alleged offense between the defendant and another student in 2017 when he found the defendant did not break any DC laws. 

According to the detective, the complainant told him that she never reached out to school or law enforcement authorities concerning her relationship with the defendant before her interview. She said she didn’t want to report what happened because of how she felt towards the defendant.

Cadman asked about the detective’s interviews with several witnesses, two of which were close friends with the complainant.

He said one of the friends was not aware of any sexual acts between the defendant and the complainant, while the other friend was not aware of any romantic or sexual relationship between the two. 

Cadman said the complainant was currently involved in a civil lawsuit against the defendant and the school for $70 million, giving her “70 million dollars’ worth of reasons for lying.”

Despite the complainant’s credibility issues, Judge Lee found probable cause.

The defendant’s next court appearance has not yet been scheduled.