Crime & Safety
Sex Offense Charge Against Rockville School Security Leader
The leader of the security team at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville is charged with having inappropriate contact with a student.
ROCKVILLE, MD — The leader of the security team at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville has been charged with sexually abusing a student. Montgomery County Police arrested and charged Mark Christopher Yantsos, 57, of the 600 block of Warfield Drive in Rockville, for having inappropriate contact with a 17-year-old girl who is a student at the high school.
Authorities say Yantos worked as the security team leader at the school, 250 Richard Montgomery Drive in Rockville. The Montgomery County Public Schools system placed Yantsos on administrative leave as soon as it learned of the allegations, police say.
On Monday, April 3, detectives were notified by school officials that an employee had engaged in an ongoing sexual relationship with a student at the Rockville high school. The teen told investigators that she met Yantsos while she was a student at Richard Montgomery High School and while he worked as part of the school's security team. The victim said that Yantsos befriended her in 2016 and that he purchased multiple gifts for her after that. In March 2017, Yantsos reportedly bought the victim a phone in order to communicate with her during and after school hours.
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The victim told detectives that on the night of March 3, Yantsos picked her up at her home and drove her to a hotel in Rockville, where he engaged in inappropriate contact with her.
Investigators were given copies of inappropriate text messages that Yantsos had recently sent to the victim.
Yantsos was arrested Thursday morning at his home on a Montgomery County criminal warrant charging him with sexual abuse of a minor and a fourth-degree sex offense. He was taken to the Central Processing Unit. Bond information has not been released.
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Detectives ask that parents of students who attend Richard Montgomery High School talk to their children about their interactions with Yantsos and contact SVID detectives at 240-773-5400 if they believe their child was victimized.
»Photo of Mark Yantsos, courtesy of Montgomery County Police
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