A Prince George’s County man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in Wheaton last month was working on a construction project for the Montgomery school system, but was not authorized for the job because of past felony convictions, according to the school system.
In a letter sent to Wheaton High School and Thomas Edison High School of Technology families on Monday, the school system said James Booker, a 59-year-old from Upper Marlboro who was arrested after allegedly raping a child outside her home, was working on a construction project at athletic fields shared by the two schools.
Police said a 12-year-old girl was walking home from school in the pouring rain May 23 when Booker drove alongside her and offered a ride, took her to her house and parked. Booker sexually assaulted her as they sat in the parked car, police said.
The child told her parents about the assault and Booker was arrested at work five days later, according to police.
Booker has prior robbery and drug distribution convictions on his record, according to the school system, and he “was not cleared to be in any MCPS school nor to have direct contact with students,” Edison principal Shawn Krasa said in the letter.
Krasa said a school system background check revealed his prior felony convictions. The letter does not indicate when or why the school system conducted the background check.
Based on those convictions, state law would prohibit Booker from working unsupervised on school grounds.
Krasa said the child who was sexually assaulted is not a student at either Edison or Wheaton high schools, but did not say whether she is a student at a different Montgomery school.
A document outlining responsibilities of school system contractors says the construction company employing Booker was responsible for ensuring he was eligible to work on school grounds.
“Violation of this provision is a material breach of contract for which MCPS may take appropriate action up to and including termination of the contract,” the document says.
Representatives of Towson-based Oak Contracting, listed as the contractor for the project, declined comment Tuesday morning and a school system spokesman did not return messages seeking comment.
The document says a worker in the contractor’s work force “may not begin work in a MCPS school facility on an assignment where the individual will have direct unsupervised and uncontrolled access to children” until background check results are submitted to the school system and the individual participates in training about recognizing, reporting and preventing child abuse.
Booker remains in custody, according to online court records, and attorney information was not available.
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
