'It's Sickening' | Maryland Teacher Charged With Five Counts Of Sex Abuse Of A Minor
EDGEWATER, Md. (WJZ) -- After more than a decade in the classroom, Meredith Martin was abruptly removed from her role as a teacher at South River High School in Edgewater, Maryland.
Anne Arundel County Police said a year-long investigation led them to enough evidence to charge Martin with five counts of sex abuse of a minor and 10 additional charges.
Police also said that they are not ruling out the possibility there could be other cases.
"It's also disturbing that we have an individual who is in a position of trust, a position of authority over students, and abusing that authority," Marc Limansky, of Anne Arundel County Police, said.
WJZ learned that the student involved is a male student who is still enrolled in the district. He reportedly told police he had "numerous sexual encounters" with Martin in the Davidsonville and Edgewater area.
"It's sickening, it's absolutely sickening," Bob Mosier, Chief Communications Officer of Anne Arundel County Public Schools, said.
School leaders did not hold back their criticism and reassured parents they took swift action.
"The minute we were made aware of it, we sent the teacher home for the day and then reassigned her to a position in our school system where she had no contact with children," Mosier said.
The school district said Martin has been there for more than a decade; first as a special education and science teacher at Chesapeake High School, and later she moved to South River High School.
Anne Arundel County Schools Superintendent George Arlotto released a statement about the incident, saying in part:
"The charges against Meredith Martin sicken me to my core and besmirch the incredible work teachers across our county do with children every single day. We place teachers in positions of responsibility and as a society we entrust to them the most precious thing we have:
Our children. No one who acts in the way in which Meredith Martin has been accused of acting should be around any children in any school."
Martin is out on her own recognizance. She does not have an attorney listed in online court records.