River Hill Teacher Charged With Sex Abuse

Alan M. Beier is accused of incidents at school involving two students. (River Hill Hs Yearbook - River Hill Hs Yearbook)

A Howard County teacher was accused yesterday of sexually abusing two students at school -- the second teacher in the system to be arrested within a week on sexual abuse charges, police said.

Officers arrested Alan M. Beier, 52, a River Hill High School science teacher, yesterday at his home in Columbia and charged him with three counts of sexual child abuse, three counts of second-degree assault and three counts of fourth-degree sex offense.

Police said Beier lured a 16-year-old male student to school Monday night with the promise of earning community service hours. Beier then took pictures of the boy, encouraging him to take off his clothes, and, eventually, Beier took off the teenager's clothes for him, police said.

After the boy reported the incident to Howard County police Tuesday, investigators said, officers raided Beier's house in the 7100 block of Rivers Edge Road and found photos of the boy that matched his description to police. In the other case, a 17-year-old female student told police that Beier had fondled her twice during class, in the spring and fall of last year.

The arrest came days after a teacher at Glenelg High School, a few miles north of River Hill, was arrested on similar charges. Joseph S. Ellis, a social studies teacher and assistant football and lacrosse coach, was arrested last Saturday on charges that he sent obscene messages and pictures of himself engaged in sex acts to two female students' cellphones, touched a female student's genitals and tried to force a female student to touch his.

The two arrests have upset parents in Howard's suburbs.

Parents and students had begun the week grappling with the Glenelg High arrest. Then Tuesday, police searched River Hill High while classes were in session but did not say what they were looking for.

The school was roiled by a scandal last year, when a social studies teacher pleaded guilty in federal court to planning to distribute $50,000 worth of methamphetamines. And some in River Hill -- the wealthiest of Columbia's planned communities -- worried that Tuesday's search was drug-related.

"Drug and alcohol had been an issue, a big concern," said parent Doug Hostetler, whose four children have attended River Hill High. "So there was talk of drugs again, but no one thought it would be something like this."

Yesterday afternoon, after police arrested Beier, teachers were given written statements to read in class, telling students in general terms about the arrest. School system officials, warned by police of the arrest, sent psychologists and additional counselors to River Hill High to help students troubled by the news.

"It's our policy to provide additional support staff for students in a situation like this," said school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan. "These are not the kind of announcements you make over the PA."

According to system officials, Beier had taught physics and chemistry at River Hill High for 10 years. He was hired in August 1996 from the Prince George's County school system, where he had taught for 30 years.

In 2001, River Hill's seniors named him teacher of the year, an honor given to the teacher who had most influenced the graduating class.

A mission statement Beier had posted for his classes remained up yesterday on the Web site he used for class assignments and schedules: "There is a 'genious' inside each student and the 'circle of genioushood' doorway is always open and inviting you to come in!"

"It's so sad and just shocking," said Hostetler, whose youngest son attends River Hill High. "Now, you want to make sure everyone holds judgment until all the facts come through because it doesn't take much to ruin a reputation. But if he did what he's accused of, it deserves to be ruined."

Staff writer Jon Gallo and researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.