Prominent Daly City music teacher charged for alleged four-year relationship with student

A Daly City middle school music teacher is facing criminal charges in connection to an alleged relationship he maintained with a student for nearly four years, prosecutors said.

DALY CITY — A man who guided students in a Daly City middle school visual and performing arts program has been charged with 24 felonies in connection to an alleged relationship he maintained with a teen for nearly four years, prosecutors said.

San Francisco resident Marcus Deon Dyson, 50, was a music teacher at Garnet Robertson Intermediate School in December 2014 when he began a relationship with a 14-year-old girl who was assisting in his class. The woman, now 22, alleged that the pair grew close and began a sexual relationship. She claimed that they’d had sex both at his home and at the school.

According to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, Dyson gave the girl a key to his apartment when she was 16, and he introduced her to his mother and children. Prosecutors said Dyson admitted in a pre-text call that he “probably would have waited” when looking back on the situation.

The relationship continued until the girl graduated from high school in June 2018, according to prosecutors.

Robertson Intermediate closed in 2017 and consolidated into The Bayshore School, where Dyson currently remains employed as a music teacher and instructor for visual and performing arts.

Bayshore Elementary School District Superintendent Elizabeth Veal told the Bay Area News Group on Monday that she learned of the alleged relationship on Oct. 15 and he was promptly placed on paid administrative leave. Veal said the district’s board will decide what to do next as the legal process plays out.

“As this case moves forward, we must respect the due process and privacy rights of both the former student and Mr. Dyson,” Veal and Bayshore principal Brandy McDill-Zamarripa said in a letter sent out to families on Dec. 8. “Please be assured that sexual harassment and child sexual abuse violate our core values and will not be tolerated in our district.”

Dyson was arrested on Dec. 7 and was formally arraigned Monday. The defense opted to push back its entry of plea until Dec. 15 so it can have a lawyer present for the hearing.

All 24 charges are connected to illegal sexual acts with a minor. Dyson is currently being held in custody on $500,000 bail.