MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — A former Montgomery County teacher, who also coached boys lacrosse and football will serve eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse of a minor, the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office said Friday.
Maxwell Bero, 31, taught at Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School from 2013 to 2016, before transferring to Watkins Mill High School. Montgomery County Police arrested and charged Bero last year, after discovering multiple inappropriate offenses with a 14-year-old student from August 2014 to June 2015.
On Friday the Circuit Court of Montgomery County and Judge David Boynton sentenced Bero to 50 years in prison, suspending all but eight years. Once released from prison, Bero will be on supervised probation for an additional five years and will remain on the sex offender registry for life., the state's attorney's office said.
Because of the plea agreement, the maximum sentence which could have been imposed was 50 years total, with all but 10 years suspended.
“I thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Gordon King and Debbie Feinstein for securing this guilty plea and applaud Judge David Boynton for imposing an appropriately lengthy prison sentence. Maxwell Bero used his role as a teacher to establish trust with these victims and groom them for abuse. He will be held accountable for his actions and will remain on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life,” State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a release.
