In July of 2024, former principal of Aberdeen Middle School Regina Jones, as well as paraeducator Tanya Johnson, were arrested after local authorities learned that they failed at their jobs as mandated reporters, according to the Aberdeen Police Department. In 2023, a student disclosed to the two that she had been raped. Instead of reporting the crime and getting authorities involved, the two adults neglected their duties as HCPS employees and decided to ignore the incident. Another student has been convicted, and the two adults await their court trials.
This incident raises many red flags for HCPS. Firstly, why did the two not report the situation? Secondly, what does this mean for the students of our community?
The Maryland Department of Human Services policy for mandated reporters states that “Mandated reporters are required to notify the local department of social services or the appropriate law enforcement agency about suspected cases of child abuse or neglect as soon as possible.” Neither Jones nor Johnson did their jobs despite being obligated to. What effects did this bring to the student left neglected – and probably terrified? It would not be hard to imagine that the student did not (and will not) feel safe telling other school staff about anything else that may go wrong. Students are always advised to ‘tell a trusted adult’ when they come across problems, but what if those trusted adults end up turning a blind eye?
Failure to report when a student is in danger (whether they have evidence or not) is to fail all the students in your vicinity. Not only did these employees potentially further endanger the student (and other students), but they also messed with evidence to aid the police in their investigations. William Reiber, public information officer for the Aberdeen Police Department, said, “Collecting biological evidence, visiting the crime scene — all of that was damaged as a result of the failure to report. So, was the delay a detriment to collecting evidence? I would say absolutely…Every day you wait, you lose valuable evidence.”
Not only that, but this perpetuates a dangerous (but not uncommon) message that too many victims of rape face. It tells them that not every adult in a school is safe; it tells them that no one is listening; it tells them that they have to suffer in silence. That is not a sentiment that should be expressed in schools, where students are supposed to be safe – but, in this case, it was just a place for the victim to be ignored.
The reason why Jones and Johnson did not report the situation is unclear, whether it was from a place of disbelief, pure ignorance, or to save them the media coverage. It does not matter. They failed to report the rape of a student and messed up an entire police investigation. They ignored the most basic rule of being a mandated reporter: If you see something, say something.