WOODBINE, Md. — Update 1/23/24: Patterson has been arrested on similar charges in Baltimore County.
Update: Patterson posted bail.
A small, private school and daycare center has been temporarily shut down by the state for failing to notify them a teacher was being criminally investigated. That teacher has since been arrested for second-degree rape and sexual assault of a minor.
Howard County police say 31-year-old Dameon Patterson was an employee for Glenwood Country Day School's after-care program for the last two years. In a news release, police say: "The victim in this case disclosed the abuse last week to a friend who notified a trusted adult. The adult contacted police and detectives launched an investigation, which led to Patterson’s arrest late yesterday. The child reported that the abuse occurred over a period of two years, "with the last incident occurring in the summer of 2023."
According to charging documents, the alleged abuse happened at the school. The victim told a social worker about numerous incidents in which Patterson digitally penetrated her, grabbed her breasts, and touched her inappropriately under her clothing. The victim says it happened when she was between nine and 11-years-old.
In addition to having classes for kids in pre-school to pre-1st grade, the school also has a daycare program for students in Howard County's public elementary schools.
The Maryland State Department of Education tells WMAR-2 News:
The MSDE Office of Child Care (OCC) issued an emergency suspension on January 5, 2024, requiring Glenwood Country Day School to stop providing care immediately. The operator was found in violation of state law [COMAR 13A.16.03.04E(1), Notifications] which requires an operator to immediately notify the OCC of an employee who is under investigation for a criminal charge or an allegation of child abuse or neglect. The OCC’s investigation is ongoing.
According to Facebook posts on the school's page, Patterson's role as after-care director often involved taking the kids on field trip. The posts also indicate he was pursuing a degree in criminal justice. We reached out to the school administration, but have not heard back. We also reached out to Patteron's lawyer, but did not hear back. At a bail hearing Friday morning, the judge set bail at $10,000. He is currently being held at a local detention facility before his preliminary hearing scheduled for February 9 in Howard County District Court.
Detectives are asking anyone with information, including any other children who may have been victimized by Patterson, to contact police at 410-313-STOP or HCPDcrimetips@howardcountymd.gov
We spoke to Amanda Rodriguez from TurnAround Inc., an organization that provides support and services for victims of abuse, about what parents should know. She said parents, and kids, need to be aware that most abuse doesn't actually happen by strangers.
"So often we say something like, 'stranger danger,' and the reality is, the statistics are somehwere between 70-90% of sexual abuse happens at the hands of somebody that the child knows."
Because of that, she says it's not surprising that a child would wait years before speaking up. It's especially hard when the abuser is someone the child trusts, and someone they're told to obey.
“It’s incredibly hard for kids to take this step, really a leap of faith, to making a disclosure to an adult. There’s everything from - on one end, if they’ve interacted with the system before, and that system in any way failed them, or in their perception failed them, they’re going to really struggle with talking about it. The other is often times we’re telling kids to be obedient to adults, so there’s also that dynamic that’s real. And sometimes they don’t have words. Even an older child can struggle with how something made them feel a certain way."
For parents who may be concerned that their child was a victim of abuse, she says it's important to ask open-ended questions, to ensure you're not planting ideas in a child's head. Questions like - has anyone ever made you feel uncomfortable, or made you do something that you didn’t want to do? Such questions, and conversations about healthy boundaries, consent, and appropriate touching, can also help prevent abuse by helping a child identify an abuser who may still be in the “grooming stage.”
If a child does disclose abuse to you, Rodriguez says the first thing you should start with is: “I believe you.”
“It is so difficult to get up the courage to make that initial statement, especially for kids. More likely than not, and the statistics are off the charts, we're talking about 95-99% chance that that child is telling the truth," she says.
The next step is contacting law enforcement and/or a child advocacy center. Every jurisdiction in Maryland has a center, which can do forensic interviewing, age-appropriate, evidence-based interviews that can be used in a criminal case.
When asked about the school failing to properly notify the state about the investigation, Rodriguez said:
“Those in the education profession are mandated reporters, and there’s a reason for that. There’s an idea called bystander prevention, which is evidence-based, and it looks at - why is it that people don't say something when they’re witnessing something horrific? The unfortunate reality is we often get in this place where we’re scared, we’re like, ‘what if I ruin his life?’ or ‘what if we’re going to ruin her career if we say something that isn’t true?’ But the reality is, the most important thing should be that you’re trying to keep the kids safe. Although yes, there could be some ancillary repercussions, more likely than not, the kids are gonna tell the truth. So, you’ve gotta get into a place where you’re very comfortable, not about accusing necessarily, but it is about saying, 'here’s information that I have,’ and let the authorities do what they’re going to do. But you should never step in a place where you’re stopping that from happening.”
