Baltimore teacher arrested for sexual assault in connection with missing 12-year-old

BALTIMORE – A teacher at a Baltimore City school has been arrested on sexual assault charges in connection with a 12-year-old Baltimore County girl who was missing for a week, our media partner The Baltimore Banner reported.

Lewis Laury, 24, was charged with second-degree rape and third-degree sexual offenses.

According to police, Laury is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with the minor.

The girl was reported missing by Baltimore County police on June 21. She was found a week later in Laury’s home, according to charging documents.

Mia Brooks, the girl’s mother, told WJZ that her daughter left a note asking her to drive to Pennsylvania and not call the police.

“She said, ‘I’m not running away,’ which made it even more cryptic because you’re 12,” Brooks said.

Friends said they believed the girl had met a man in his twenties online.

“People and friends have said she was talking to a man in his twenties,” Brooks said.

Baltimore County detectives worked with other law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to locate her.

According to the school’s website, he is a teacher at Merganthaler Vocational-Technical High School in Baltimore.

Laury is being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center.