Potomac Private School Teacher Charged with Sex Abuse of Two Students

By Aaron Kraut
Bethesda Magazine
July 17, 2015

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Potomac-Private-School-Teacher-Charged-With-Sex-Abuse-of-Two-Students/

Justin Gordon

Montgomery County police say a science teacher at a Potomac private school had inappropriate sexual contact with two students after cultivating close personal friendships with them.

Justin Andrew Gordon, 40, of Poolesville was charged Thursday with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of fourth-degree sexual offense. He is being held on $35,000 bond.

The Connelly School of the Holy Child, an all-girls school for grades six through 12, put Gordon on administrative leave when the school learned of the allegations Friday, July 10, said Head of School Shannon Gomez.

Gomez said school officials immediately contacted the police. The school also sent an email to parents that day. Gomez said the school fired Gordon this week after conducting its own investigation in which school officials spoke with the two victims.

"The minute we found out, we contacted the proper authorities," Gomez said. "We'll continue to inform our community of the information that we've become aware of. We're just really grateful for everybody who has had the courage to come forward to alert us. The girls' safety is of foremost importance to us."

Police allege Gordon, who was a robotics teacher and the moderator of the school’s Technology Club, initiated “a personal relationship” with one student that began “with informal association at social and sporting events, then increased to daily personal communications.”

Police said that by May, the relationship “escalated to inappropriate sexual touching.”

The teenage female victim told police of the relationship Tuesday. Over the next two days, police said they found that a second victim, who met Gordon while she was a student at Connelly in 2008, was the victim of inappropriate sexual contact with him in 2012.

Police said they’re concerned there may be other victims and in a press release asked that anyone who believes that they may have been victimized by Gordon to call the Special Victims Investigations Division at 240-777-5400.