Charges Dropped Against Silver Spring Man Accused of Sexual Abuse

SILVER SPRING, MD — Prosecutors dropped charges of sexual abuse against a Silver Spring resident who was accused of inappropriately touching a 5-year-old girl at an after-school program where he worked as a counselor in Rockville.

Raul Alejandro Ramos, 21, was a counselor at the "Kids After Hours" program at Flower Valley Elementary School. He was accused of touching the young girl inappropriately "more than once" while playing the game tag on the school playground, police said. Police said the inappropriate touching also occurred inside the school.

As of April 16, the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. A spokesman for the state's attorney's office told The Washington Post: “The prosecutor in the matter decided there was not enough evidence to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant was guilty and thus we decided the case should be dismissed.”

The incidents of abuse allegedly occurred between August 29 and October 31, 2016, Montgomery County Police reported in November. Ramos was arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a minor, and three counts of third-degree sexual offense on November 10.

The five-year-old girl from the program reported the alleged abuse to a relative, who then contacted Montgomery County police, court records show. When police interviewed Ramos, he started to cry and said “I would never touch a kid that way. Never. I’ve been working with kids for two years. I would never do that,” according to a transcript of the interview.

Ramos said that one day he picked the little girl up and carried her to one of her relatives.

“It was probably an accident if she really thought that I touched her,” Ramos told detectives. “Why would I do that on purpose? She’s a kid.”

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The charges cost Ramos his job. Ramos was placed on administrative leave and later dismissed when he was arrested.

“He is a nice, caring, empathetic young man,” said Bob Sickels, the owner of Kids After Hours. “He was everything we looked for in a staff member.”

The dropped charges confirmed the belief by many parents that Ramos should never have been charged. Sickels held a meeting with parents and said a large number of the parents whose children went to the Flower Valley program thought Ramos was innocent. Sickels said Ramos had "tremendous parental support."

Sickels said firing Ramos was not something he did "happily."

“The prosecutors took a very hard look at this case, and decided to get rid of it,” said Ramos' attorney Andrew Jezic. “I commend them for their fairness.”

Ramos said he'd like to work with kids again, but his experience makes him weary. He might pursue heating and air-conditioning jobs instead, Ramos told The Washington Post.

See the full Washington Post story here.

Photo: Montgomery County Police Department