Former MCPS Guidance Counselor Sentenced In 2 Rape Cases: Report

KENSINGTON, MD — A former Montgomery County Public Schools guidance counselor was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday for raping two women he met through the online dating app Tinder, according to multiple media outlets.

Colin Sime Black — a 35-year-old Rockville resident and former Albert Einstein High School guidance counselor — was arrested in 2017 after two women accused him of rape. Authorities said the rapes happened on Dec. 31, 2016 and March 24, 2017, and that the women did not know each other.

Black had consensual sex with one of the women he met through Tinder in 2016, according to police. But when they met again on Dec. 31, police said Black raped the victim.

Less than a year later, Black met up with another woman he had met through Tinder. The woman, according to authorities, had consensual sex with Black before he raped her.

Court records show that Black was found guilty of second-degree sexual offense charges earlier this year.

In court on Friday, Black apologized to the victims, saying he "takes responsibility for his actions," but had a "different recollection," of what happened in each case, Bethesda Beat reports.

"While I never used physical force, I did use verbal persuasion," he said.

According to WTOP, Black's mother, who is both deaf and blind, told the court that he is a good son and asked the judge for leniency because she needs him to take care of her.

After sentencing, Black's attorney, Barry Helfand, said he plans to appeal the case.

"I pray there is solid ground to get it reversed because we are feeling very, very, crushed by the amount of time that he got," Helfand said, according to WTOP.