Updated 3:50 p.m.: A 21-year-old security guard at Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School in Silver Spring was arrested and charged with having inappropriate sexual contact with a 14-year-old female student at the school, Montgomery County police announced Monday.
Mike Anthony Lievano, who lives on University Boulevard in Silver Spring, faces charges of sexual abuse of a minor, a third-degree sex offense and a fourth-degree sex offense by a person in a position of authority, according to court records. Since late March, Lievano had texted the female student and had sex with her at her home and at his home, according to police.
He was placed on administrative leave from the school as soon as officials became aware of the allegations, according to Montgomery County Public Schools. He has worked as a security assistant at the Silver Spring middle school since mid-February.
This is the second recent incident of alleged sexual abuse of a minor by security personnel at an MCPS school. In April, Mark Yantsos, the head of security at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, was arrested for reportedly abusing a 17-year-old student at the school. Yantos was arrested again May 5 for allegedly having sex with the girl again when he was out on bond and ordered not to have contact with her. Yantsos is on unpaid administrative leave.
Montgomery County detectives were notified May 4 of the alleged sexual abuse by Lievano, according to a police press release. The girl told investigators she initiated contact with Lievano at school and gave him her phone number. She said they communicated through text messages and that they “started dating” on March 29, according to court documents.
The girl told police she and Lievano had sex at least four times at her Silver Spring residence and once at his, according to documents. She said she would sneak him into her apartment at night.
Lievano admitted to having sex with the girl twice in her apartment in a May 5 interview, and said the last encounter was on April 30, when the girl's mother caught him in her bedroom, according to documents.
Detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest, and Lievano turned himself in to investigators late Sunday night, according to police. He is being held in the Central Processing Unit in Rockville on a $10,000 bond.
Before working at Col. E. Brooke Lee, Lievano served as a part-time security assistant at Rockville High School from September 2015 to February 2016 and then worked in private security, according to a letter that Principal Kimberly Hayden Williams wrote to parents Monday.
“These charges are troubling and completely unacceptable, particularly given that security staff are placed in schools to keep students safe,” Williams wrote. “The charges represent a violation of the core values of our school and school system.”
Williams informed parents that school psychologists, counselors and personnel will meet with staff Tuesday and will be available to provide counseling and support to students.
“MCPS remains committed to the safety of our students,” MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith wrote in a message to parents Monday. “We have developed and implemented staff training on preventing, recognizing and reporting child abuse as well as a curriculum on personal body safety for students at all grade levels.”
MCPS spokeswoman Gboyinde Onijala said the school system is not commenting further on the incident at this time.
Lievano is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at the Montgomery County District Court in Rockville on June 9.
Police ask families who believe their child may have been victimized by Lievano to call detectives at 240-773-5400.
