Politics & Government

Prosecutors Transfer Case of Teacher Accused of Sex Offenses

State's attorney's spokesman: Top prosecutor "knows Mr. Spear."

The Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office has turned over to prosecutors from Anne Arundel County the case of a teacher and coach from Rockville charged with having sex with a 16-year-old girl.

The Montgomery County office will not prosecute Scott Duane Spear “to avoid the appearance of impropriety,” said Seth Zucker, a spokesman for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The transfer of the case was first reported in The Sentinel.

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Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy “knows Mr. Spear,” Zucker said on Tuesday. “Even though the state’s attorney himself would not be prosecuting the case he has asked another jurisdiction’s prosecutor to prosecute the case.”

The transfer request is not unusual, said Zucker, who would not elaborate on how McCarthy knows Spear.

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Spear, 47, of the 1600 block of Auburn Avenue in Rockville, was arrested Feb. 2. Police said Spear had sex on two occasions with a 16-year-old girl who was his former student at Julius West Middle School, where he teaches social studies. Spear later coached the girl in track at Richard Montgomery High School, police said. He is charged with two counts of fourth-degree sex offense.

Spear’s attorney, former Rockville Mayor Steven VanGrack, told ABC7 that Spear “professes complete innocence.”

Spear is next schedule to appear in Montgomery County District Court on March 13.


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