Ex-middle school teacher sentenced to 30 years for illicit sex acts with underage student will serve only 12 months in jail

A former Maryland teacher pleaded guilty in June to illegal child sex crimes with a student and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. However, she'll only serve a year behind bars after a judge suspended the vast majority of her sentence.

On June 20, Melissa Marie Curtis pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree sex offenses with an underage middle school student. During her sentencing Friday, Curtis also was given five years of supervised probation, according to the Montgomery County State Attorney’s Office.

The former student claimed that Curtis sexually abused him nearly two dozen times.

Once released, Curtis will be required to register as a sex offender for 25 years. She also won't be allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors other than her own children.

According to a previous statement from the Montgomery County Department of Police, its Special Victims Investigations Division in October 2023 began a probe into an adult male's allegations that in 2015 he engaged in sexual acts with Curtis when he was a minor and she was 22.

The incidents continued for several months while the victim was a student at Montgomery Village Middle School and Curtis was a teacher at the same school, the statement said.

The alleged victim at the time was in the 8th grade and 14 years old; he allegedly volunteered for an after-school program Curtis ran.

Police executed an arrest warrant for Curtis on Oct. 31, 2023. Curtis turned herself in to authorities on Nov. 7, 2023.

The former student claimed that Curtis sexually abused him nearly two dozen times.

Citing court documents, D.C. News Now reported last year that Curtis sexually abused the student in a classroom, in a car, at her mother's home, and at his house.

The news outlet also said, citing charging documents, that Curtis "touched his penis while in a classroom and performed oral sex on him." Also, she is accused of providing alcohol and marijuana to the minor.

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