A former Maryland middle school teacher who regularly sexually molested a 14-year-old girl has met her end.
Melissa Curtis, 32, from Upper Marlboro, was sentenced to 30 years in jail on Friday, November 15. However, a Montgomery County judge deferred the majority of the sentence, enabling Curtis to serve 12 months in prison and five years on supervised probation, according to a statement released to PEOPLE on Tuesday, Nov. 19.
According to the statement, Curtis will have to register as a sex offender for the next 25 years after her release. She will also be prohibited from having unsupervised contact with minors other than her children. Curtis pled guilty to “three counts of third-degree sex offense” on June 20, according to the statement.
According to a previous statement released by the Montgomery County Police Department, an investigation began in October 2023 after the now-adult victim reported sexual assault to police.
He stated that the abuse began in 2015 when Curtis was 22 and he was a 14-year-old 8th-grade student at Montgomery Village Middle School, where she worked, according to the MCPD.
In criminal documents obtained by DC News Now, the victim said Curtis sexually abused him in a classroom, a car, her mother’s home, and his home. The victim also claimed that Curtis had intercourse with him over 20 times.
A warrant for Curtis’ arrest was issued on October 31, 2023, and she surrendered to authorities on November 7, 2023, according to the MCPD statement.
Curtis had worked as a teacher in Montgomery County for around two years, including at Lakelands Park Middle School.
A spokeswoman for Montgomery County Public Schools informed Fox 5 DC that Curtis left the school in 2017.
Reference: Ex-Middle School Teacher Gets 30 Years for Sexually Abusing 14-Year-Old in Classroom and Her Car