A former middle school teacher in Maryland was sentenced to 30 years for the repeated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old student — but she will only serve one year behind bars for the crime.
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Melissa Curtis, 32, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, learned her fate Friday when a Montgomery County judge suspended the majority of the sentence, allowing the ex-educator to serve 12 months behind bars and five years of supervised probation, WTTG reported.
Curtis pleaded guilty on June 20 to “three counts of third-degree sex offense,” which involved a then-14-year-old student while she was a teacher at Montgomery Village Middle School in 2015.
Curtis, who was 22 at the time, engaged in sexual acts with the minor more than 20 times between January and May of that year at the school, in her car, at her mother’s house and his home, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.
Police also said she gave the eighth-grader alcohol and marijuana.
The teacher and student often spent time alone after the teen volunteered for an after-school program Curtis oversaw, prosecutors said, according to the court papers.
A police investigation was launched in October 2023 after the victim came forward with the abuse allegations.
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A warrant was issued for Curtis’ arrest on Oct. 31, 2023. She turned herself in a week later, Montgomery County Police Department said in a previous press release.
Curtis had been a teacher for about two years in Montgomery County and had also taught at Lakelands Park Middle School, according to cops.
Following her release, Curtis will be required to register as a sex offender for 25 years.
She will also not be permitted to have unsupervised contact with minors other than her own children.