The woman who accused Chuck Yocum of sexual misconduct while he was a teacher at Northwest High School in Pasadena roughly 30 years ago is speaking out amid Yocum’s bid for the District 3 seat on the Anne Arundel County Board of Education.

Yocum, 61, taught special education from 1988 to 1994 and was indicted by a grand jury in 1994 on charges of child sexual abuse, unnatural and perverted sexual practice, and assault and battery. Prosecutors dismissed the battery charge before trial, and a jury found Yocum not guilty on all remaining charges.

Terrie Warfield, 52, who testified against Yocum at the trial, said she stands by her allegations.

Growing up in a troubled home, Warfield says she struggled with behavior issues and was placed in Yocum’s special education class in 1989. She claims Yocum gave her extra attention in class, passed her notes while she was in class, and told her he cared about her.

Warfield alleges Yocum would cover the classroom door’s window with paper while he sexually abused her inside.

“He knew exactly how to manipulate me,” Warfield said. “He was supposed to be the adult. I was the child, and he was supposed to teach me.”

At 18, Warfield dropped out of high school, one class short of graduation, and moved to Pennsylvania. She disclosed her relationship with Yocum to her then-partner, who contacted Anne Arundel County Public Schools in 1993, leading police to question her at her home in State College.

At 21, when her daughter was 2 weeks old, Warfield returned to Maryland to testify at Yocum’s trial.

A jury found Yocum not guilty.

“All we had to go on was one person’s word that it happened,” one juror told The Sun after the trial.

“I’d go back to school on Monday if they’d let me,” Yocum told the newspaper after his acquittal.

Instead, Yocum continued to work for AACPS in an administrative role until retiring this year. Since leaving teaching, he has volunteered with young people in the community, coaching his daughter’s softball team in Riviera Beach, and serving on the Y of Central Maryland’s community leadership board.

Until contacted by a reporter over the summer, Warfield said she was unaware of Yocum’s run for the Board of Education and believed he had been fired from AACPS after the trial. She spoke out on social media last week, saying she stands by her allegations.

Yocum did not respond to a request for comment, but he referred questions about Warfield to her mother, Kathy Burkhard, who says her daughter is fabricating the accusations.

“She is incapable of telling the truth. I’ve had problems with her since she was almost 15,” Burkhard said.

Warfield and her mother have a strained relationship. Her parents divorced when she was in middle school, and she primarily lived with her father, Burkhard said.

“I’m [at a] loss for words about my biological mom. … I did not lie. I told the God-honest truth then, and I’m telling the God-honest truth now,” Warfield said in a social media post. “I deserve justice, and so does everyone else he hurt.”

Yocum was one of three Northwest High School teachers charged with sexual misconduct. Ronald Price, who admitted on national television to having sex with students, was convicted and died while serving a 26-year sentence. The third teacher, Laurie Cook of Catonsville, was also acquitted.

In 1994, AACPS adopted a policy that specifically prohibits dating between employees and students of any age, according to district spokesperson Bob Mosier. The district has also since created the Employee Case Management team, which deliberates weekly on how misconduct allegations should be handled, and mandated staff annually review training videos related to a variety of topics, including sexual harassment.

The district does not comment on current or former employees’ personnel records, Mosier added.

Yocum faces Erica McFarland, a Pasadena mom and community volunteer, in the District 3 race. Several prominent Democrats, including County Executive Stuart Pittman, have called for Yocum to drop out of the race.

Have a news tip? Contact Bridget Byrne at bbyrne@baltsun.com, 443-690-7205 and x.com/brdgtbyrn.