Flowers football coach indicted for alleged sex with students
Second time in two years a teacher at Springdale school has been charged
A substitute teacher and assistant football coach at Charles H. Flowers High School in Springdale has been indicted for sex crimes involving a minor after allegedly having sex with two of the school's students earlier this year, prosecutors announced today.
Brian Antoine Gwaltney, 38, of Laurel allegedly had consensual sex with one female student inside his classroom during the school year and with another female student at her home, according to charging documents filed in Prince George's County District Court.
Gwaltney, who has worked as a substitute teacher for the school system since March 2007, has been indicted on five counts for each of the victims: child sex abuse; a third-degree sex offense; two fourth-degree sex offenses; and second-degree assault, said Glenn F. Ivey, state's attorney for Prince George's County.
This is the second time in the past two years a teacher at Flowers has been accused of having sex with a student.
School system spokesman Darrell Pressley said Gwaltney was suspended as soon as the school found out about the allegations and the allegations were reported to Child Protective Services. The suspension occurred in either May or June, Pressley said. Charging documents show Gwaltney was arrested June 17 and later posted bond.
Pressley was unsure whether any information was sent to parents about the allegations. One Flowers parent said she first heard of the incident when contacted by a Gazette reporter.
"Usually if something happens at the school we would get some information. We got nothing," said Bettye Anderson, mother of two boys who attend the school and one recent graduate. "This is something the school should be sending home, but it's kept a secret and swept under the rug."
When Anderson questioned her sons, she said they told her they had heard rumors that several girls had sex with Gwaltney. Anderson said because teenagers may not divulge information to their parents, she felt it was the school's responsibility to make sure parents knew about the allegations, especially since prosecutors believe there could be other student victims.
Neither head football coach Mike Mayo nor Athletic Director Carl Rose could be reached for comment.
Keith Lynch, who spent last season as the quarterbacks coach with the Flowers football team, said he found out about the allegations when Gwaltney was arrested and was "surprised" by the news.
"I never saw it coming," said Lynch, who said he is not returning to Flowers this fall in order to focus on his second season as the girls' basketball coach at Suitland High School in Forestville. "I don't think [head coach] Mike [Mayo] did either. None of us ever suspected anything. We never saw anything out of the ordinary."
He said coaches should keep strict boundaries between themselves and their players.
"Any time you're coaching kids ... you have to stay away from them," Lynch said. "I won't even give any of my kids [on the Suitland girls' basketball team] a ride home. I'll wait with them at the school until their parents arrive, but I won't take them anywhere. I won't even sit in the car with one of them on a cold night. They can sit in my car alone and I'll stand outside. You just can't put yourself in those types of situations."
A warrant has been issued for Gwaltney's arrest, and police are continuing an investigation to see if there are other victims, Ivey said. Gwaltney faces up to 47 years in jail for the combined offenses.
Gwaltney did not answer the door at his Laurel home.
Other recent cases of sex offenses involving school employees include former Flowers ROTC instructor Mark Allen Jackson, 43, who pleaded guilty to transporting a 16-year-old girl across state lines to his Alexandria, Va., home three times in 2008 to have sex with her. He was sentenced to one year in jail this January.
In June, county school bus driver Scott Smallwood, 27, of Upper Marlboro was charged with sexually abusing a 7-year-old boy to produce child pornography.
In 2008, former Bowie High School volunteer assistant football coach Aaron Burroughs, 37, of Crofton was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of a 14-year-old girl.
Staff Writer Ted Black contributed to this article.
E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.