Aberdeen Police say the failure of school personnel to report an alleged rape last year jeopardized evidence and delayed their investigation. As a result, the two educators now face misdemeanor charges.

“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,” said William Reiber, public information officer for Aberdeen Police. “Every day you wait, you lose valuable evidence.”

The delay dates to April 13, 2023, when then-principal of Aberdeen Middle School, Regina Jones, 44, and a paraeducator, Tanya Johnson, 56, were informed that a student had been the victim of an alleged rape that occurred the day before.

State law requires that educators, health practitioners, human service workers and law enforcement officers report suspected child abuse or neglect. Aberdeen Police say they were not informed of the alleged rape until a local hospital notified them on April 18.

“We were five days behind,” Reiber said. “Everything would have been accelerated had we been notified sooner.”

Due to not only the delays but also the intricacies associated with law enforcement and juveniles and the school system, the investigation spanned more than a year until a 17-year-old suspect was arrested in July. Under state law, the name of the suspect and records related to their arrest are not available to the public.

“Once the school system was made aware of the situation, they did all of the right things and what they were supposed to,” said Aaron Poynton, president of the Harford County Board of Education.

Jones served as the principal of Aberdeen Middle School from July 1, 2021, until she was placed on an extended leave as of Sept. 14, 2023.

According to online court records Jones and Johnson were both charged on July 16 with failure to report child abuse/neglect and abuse/failure to report, both misdemeanors.

Patrick Seidel, Jones’ lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment. Johnson could not be reached for comment and waived her right to a defense attorney during her initial court appearance in August, according to court records.

Both Johnson and Jones are scheduled for trial on Jan. 22.

In spring 2023, around the same time as the alleged rape was reported, police were called to Aberdeen Middle School for several other incidents.

In February 2023, several female students reported they were assaulted by a 12-year-old male student who touched them inappropriately during a school dance. The dance ended early as a result of the large crowd, and all parents and students were evacuated from the building, according to Aberdeen Police. Since state law prohibits police from criminally charging suspects under the age of 13, sanctions were handled by Harford County Public Schools.

In late March 2023, police received a complaint that an Aberdeen Middle teacher shared a sexually explicit video with a student on their cellphone, and the Aberdeen Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division seized evidence for further investigation. According to court records the teacher, Tomisa Naima Snyder, 46, of Edgewood, was found guilty in Harford District Court in December of displaying obscene materials to a minor, and sentenced to a year in jail with all but three days suspended, and 18 months supervised probation.