A Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) special educator who worked in Rockville High School’s autism program is facing fourth-degree sex offense charges for allegedly sexually abusing a teenager, who wasn’t his student, when the girl was 14, according to charging documents.
Cristian Pelaez, 28, of College Park was arrested March 7 by Montgomery County police after an arrest warrant was issued Jan. 28, according to online court records. According to charging documents, Pelaez is charged with unlawfully committing a sex offense by engaging in a sexual act with a person who was 14 or 15 years old while he was at least four years older than the victim. He is being held without bond as of March 8, according to court records.
Pelaez is listed as a member of the autism program staff at Rockville High School but is currently listed as “unassigned” in the MCPS staff directory.
After Bethesda Today asked when Peleaz became “unassigned” and when he stopped working in his last assigned school, MCPS spokesperson Liliana López said in an email Friday that she could share only that Pelaez remains on leave. The lawyer listed for Pelaez in online court records, David Moyse of the Wheaton-based law firm Jezic & Moyse, didn’t immediately respond to phone calls Friday requesting comment.
According to charging documents, a Montgomery County detective began investigating in November 2024 the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl that occurred when she was 14. The documents state the offenses occurred from June 2023 to November 2024.
The teen said she met Pelaez at Rockville High while Pelaez was a paraeducator for the autism program at the school, according to the documents. The girl was attending middle school at the time, according to the charging documents.
The teen allegedly “began a relationship,” according to the charging documents, with Pelaez while she was visiting the autism program. According to the charging documents, she said Pelaez found her Snapchat account and began to message her, and the conversations were innocent at first. The teen allegedly asked Pelaez to get her a vape, which he provided in school and advised her to not tell her mother, according to the documents.
According to the charging documents, the teen said Pelaez “became bolder” during the Snapchat conversations, allegedly alluding to sexual acts. Many of the messages were allegedly sent during school hours while Pelaez was at work and the girl was in class, according to the charging documents.
In the summer of 2023, the girl volunteered with the autism program that Pelaez was a part of. During a July 22 field trip, Pelaez allegedly touched the girl inappropriately, according to the charging documents. The girl said she told Pelaez that his actions were inappropriate, and he stopped.
Pelaez is scheduled to stand trial April 22 in Montgomery County District Court.
