MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — A former Montgomery County Public Schools teacher who sexually abused a student in 2015 will spend just one year in prison.
Melissa Curtis, 32, was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in prison, but will only serve a year. After she is released, she will be on probation for five years and will not be allowed to have unsupervised contact with any minors aside from her own children. She will also have to register as a sex offender for 25 years.
Curtis pleaded guilty to three charges of third-degree sex offense in June. She had been charged with 15 counts when she was arrested in October 2023, including sexual abuse of a minor and multiple counts of third and fourth-degree sexual offenses.
The sexual abuse was discovered in 2023, when a man told police that when he was a 14-year-old eighth grader in 2015, he engaged in sexual acts with a former middle school teacher, a then-22-year-old Curtis.
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Court records said the 14-year-old victim was often alone with Curtis when he volunteered for an after-school program she was running. The sexual abuse happened inside a classroom, in a car, at the boy’s home and at her mother’s home, among other places, records say. She also reportedly gave the child alcohol and marijuana.
Curtis worked at Montgomery Village Middle School at the time, but also worked at Lakelands Park Middle School in her about two years of employment with the county school system.
When she was arrested, police said they believed there may be more victims. Anyone who may have been affected by these crimes is encouraged to call detectives at 240-773-5400.
