ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Sex offenders could be barred from attending classes at Maryland schools, under a bill being drafted by state lawmakers.
The bill stemmed from public outrage after a convicted sex offender was re-enrolled in a Baltimore school, and charged with raping a student in 2019.
Santino Sudano, 21, pled guilty to a fourth-degree sex offense charge in 2018, but was later granted permission from staff at Parkville High School to take classes there, according to Baltimore's WJZ. Sudano is now being charged with raping a student in December 2019.
Under current Maryland law, a sex offender can attend a public school with written permission from school leaders, WJZ reported.
"This should not happen again," Maryland state senator Katherine Klausmeier said. "If you are 20,19, 16,14, 21 -- you as a sex offender are not going to be allowed in a school."
Sudano got permission to attend Parkville High School despite his criminal history, according to Brandon Oland, communications specialist for Baltimore County Public Schools.
Oland said there were "protocols and procedures that were put in place" to allow Sudano to take classes at Parkville.
"The principal granted the student permission to attend classes," Oland said. "That decision was supported by our Office of Law. All state laws and Board of Education policies and procedures were followed. We cannot get into the specifics of the student’s education plan. If you're a student and you're on the sex offender list....students have the ability to get an education despite that and the inner workings are decided on a case-by-case basis," Oland said.
Sudano is no longer in the BCPS system, Oland said.
"As a parent, I understand that every time we send our kids to school, we rightly expect that that school is a safe place where they will be protected from any harm," Baltimore County Executive Jonny Olszewski said. "So, when I first learned of the recent situation at Parkville High School, where a 21-year-old convicted sex offender was re-enrolled in Baltimore County Public Schools, I was shocked dismayed furious and frustrated."
State legislators and local Baltimore county officials announced that they were drafting a new bill Monday.
Under current Maryland law § 7-301, children between 5 and 18 years of age, who reside in Maryland, are required to attend public school regularly during the school year. The law provides several exclusions, like if the child is married, in the military service, is severally ill or attends an alternative educational program.
The law further explains that "this section does not apply to a child...whose presence in school presents a danger of serious physical harm to others."
"Some folks say, 'well how about their education?'" Klausmeier said. "Well that's all well and good, but there are other ways to get an education, besides sitting next to a student in a high school, a student in a middle school. This should not happen again."