School official on the run after sex abuse charges
Friday, February 4, 2011
02/03/2011
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washingtonexaminer.com
Police are looking for a Montgomery County private school admissions director who has fled after being charged with sexually abusing a student at the school.
Montgomery County police said 47-year-old Thomas C. Wilson, of the 17600 block of Coatbridge Place in Olney, inappropriately touched a student on school property at Washington Christian Academy between Jan. 1 and Feb. 1.
The 14-year-old student reported that the abuse occurred multiple times during the month, police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said. She said no alleged incidents occurred off school grounds.
Police would not release the student's gender. Baur said authorities were protecting the student's privacy because of the school's small size. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows the school had 293 students in 2008, the latest year for which enrollment was available.
Detectives interviewed the student who reported the abuse on Wednesday. Wilson apparently fled Wednesday night,
Baur said, and detectives are trying to find him. She said Wilson had been working at the school this week.
In a statement, Washington Christian headmaster Larry Danner said the school "has been cooperating fully with the police in this investigation and will continue to do so."
Wilson had been the admissions director at Washington Christian since November 2008, and joined the school as a volunteer in August 2008, Danner's statement said.
The private school is located at 16227 Batchellors Forest Road in Olney and teaches kindergarten through 12th grade. Tuition ranges from $6,763 for half-day kindergarten to $16,207 for high school students, according to Washington Christian's Web site.
Wilson is facing charges of sexual abuse of a minor, third-degree sexual offense and fourth-degree sexual offense.
The allegations are the second sex abuse case to surface against a school official in Montgomery County this week. On Wednesday, police said Garrett D. Orr, a former Catholic priest and teacher at Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, had been accused of sexually abusing two boys while they had been students at the school.
Wilson is described as white, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and about 160 pounds. Wilson has black hair and brown eyes. Police said he is believed to be driving a gold 2003 Kia sport utility vehicle with the Maryland license plate 8062CC.
Anyone with information about Wilson's location or other instances of sexual abuse at the school is asked to call police at 240-773-5426. Callers can remain anonymous.
