Sex Abuse Of Minor Prompts Extra Sentence For Repeat Offender: Report

Annapolis MD

06 April, 2022

3:05 PM

Description

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — A former Anne Arundel County Public Schools employee got an additional prison sentence after pleading guilty to sexually abusing another minor, officials announced on March 29. Authorities identified the repeat offender as 41-year-old Mark Thoms of Severna Park. Prosecutors said Thoms pleaded guilty to one count of sex abuse of a minor and one count of sex abuse of a minor, continuing course of conduct. Thoms used to be a behavior specialist at the Mary Moss Academy in Annapolis. This is an alternative education site for AACPS students in grades six through nine who are often working on their behavior or class performance. "In every facet of his life, the defendant used his power and proximity to the minor victims to sexually abuse them," Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a press release. "Sadly, no spaces or places where minor victims were located was off limits to the defendant." Judge Stacy McCormack sentenced Thoms to 45 years in prison, the release said. Thoms was also sentenced in 2021 to 30 years after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a different juvenile student, officials said. Two other 2020 cases resulted in a 10-year sentence for second-degree assault, sex abuse of a minor and third-degree sexual assault. Prosecutors said all three sentences will run concurrently. That means each sentence will count down at the same time. "The defendant is no longer a threat to the public safety," the state's attorney said. "I believe he will never be released from prison now with this additional sentence." The victim in the most recent case felt safe enough to tell her story after learning about the first two sentences, the release said. A caseworker from the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services interviewed the victim on June 29, 2021 at the Child Advocacy Center in Millersville, officials said. The victim told the interviewer that Thoms touched and assaulted her multiple times between 2018 and his arrest in 2020, prosecutors said. The minor added that Thoms tried to force himself on her, despite her objection. Assistant State's Attorney Maria Stamidis prosecuted the case. Leaders urged victims to call the county's Sexual Assault Crisis Center and Hotline at (410) 222-6800 to get support. RELATED: Sexual Abuse Of Minor Sends Former AACPS Employee To Prison Have a story idea? Please contact me at [email protected] with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County news.