Judge releases Randallstown High teacher accused of sexually abusing student on home detention

A Baltimore County judge ordered a 38-year-old Randallstown teacher and coach accused of sexually abusing a student released on home detention.

Baltimore County Police arrested Carlos Arroyo, a soccer coach and teacher at Randallstown High School, on Friday.

The social studies teacher and boys’ varsity soccer coach faces charges of sexually abusing a minor and a third-degree sex offense — both felonies — as well as misdemeanor offenses of second-degree assault and a fourth-degree sex offense by a person in a position of authority.

District Court Judge Leo Ryan Jr. ruled Monday that Arroyo will await trial on home detention at a relative’s home. Ryan required him to stay away from any victims or witnesses in the case.

“I’m concerned about his own children,” Ryan said, before he ordered Arroyo to stay away from all children under age 18, including his own.

A female student told a school social worker on April 30 that Arroyo had performed sex acts on her the day before inside his car at the Owing Mills Metro Station garage, police wrote in charging documents.

She told the social worker that a “married man in his 30s with two children” had been giving her rides to the metro station after soccer conditioning but initially refused to name him. The student also said told that a black charger she was holding belonged to the man. A school resource officer later saw her return the charger to Arroyo on school surveillance cameras.

The student told detectives and a Department of Social Service worker that she had confided in Arroyo about personal issues and suicidal thoughts. He offered to help her with her relationships and gave her rides to the train station and, on one occasion, taught her about circumcision, according to charging documents. Arroyo had also touched her and kissed her in the classroom, she told police.

On April 29, Arroyo parked his car on the third floor of the Owings Mills metro station and climbed into the backseat with her, the student told police. A security camera captured them entering the garage on that date, charging documents say, and Arroyo’s phone records indicated his device was in the parking garage area during that timeframe.

“The victim advised that during the assault, she was silent and she didn’t know what to do; she just froze,” police wrote in charging documents.

At one point, Arroyo told her that she was lucky he was respectful and didn’t go further, police said.

A nurse at Greater Baltimore Medical Center who conducted a sexual assault exam saw “reddish-purplish” areas on the student’s neck and breast and a scratch on her thigh, charging documents say. The student reported experiencing pain after the alleged assault.

Armed with a grand jury subpoena, detectives obtained messages between Arroyo and the student on school platform Schoology. The two exchanged messages later on April 29, when the student told Arroyo she had “tiny scratches and cuts all over my legs.”

The student also sent Arroyo a message on May 1: “maybe you can get somewhere better instead. maybe being a teacher wasn’t where you should be,” she wrote. “you wont be in jail forever and you might not even go since this wasnt rape. idk why i feel bad when you’re clearly manipulative but i do, sorry it got the best of you.”

The student also wrote in a note to Arroyo that police recovered from the trash can in his classroom, “you don’t think this is alot to risk.” He responded with a note saying, “It 100% is a risk. We can stop anytime. That includes the rides to the train, let me know,” according to charging documents.

On May 9, a Carroll County Sheriff’s deputy told a county detective that Arroyo’s wife had found him with a loaded firearm and a suicide note. By then, county police had told Arroyo about the allegations against him and towed his car to search it.

“…I did not do the things they said I did,” Arroyo wrote in the suicide note, which was included in an emergency evaluation. “I am sorry for the pain I caused and the people I have hurt…”

Baltimore County Assistant State’s Attorney Zarena Sita argued Monday that Arroyo should remain incarcerated at the Baltimore County Detention Center because he took advantage of his position of authority and engaged in “grooming behavior.”

“He was entrusted with the care of students at this high school,” Sita said. She added that prosecutors were also concerned about his access to guns.

Alex Leikus, standing in for Arroyo’s defense attorney, Bradley Shepherd, said Arroyo and his wife own their home together. “He’s a product of Baltimore County. He’s worked his entire life,” Leikus said. He declined to comment on the case Monday.

Arroyo, who appeared on video from the Towson jail wearing an orange jumpsuit, has no prior criminal history in Maryland.

School officials placed him on administrative leave, according to a Saturday letter from Principal Michael Jones to the Randallstown High community. Counseling will be available for students this week, according to the letter.

Police and school officials are urging anyone who believes they might have been abused by Arroyo to contact the Baltimore County Police Department Crimes Against Children Unit office at 410-887-7720 or the Department of Social Services at 410-887-8463(TIME).

Arroyo is scheduled to return to court on July 19 for a preliminary hearing.