School Police

A 44-year-old man who purportedly worked as a mentor for middle school students was held at the Baltimore City jail without bond Monday on sex offense charges, after a middle school girl told police he groped her. Charles D. Shelly, of the 3500 block of Cliftmont Ave., is charged with sexual abuse of a minor and related counts. The investigation began on Dec. 11 when police received a call from the girl's mother who told them her daughter had been groped by Shelly, whom she described as a school mentor, according to a police report.

Baltimore school police officers overwhelmingly ratified a five-year labor contract Thursday that ties their pay to performance, breaking from a traditional plan with uniform yearly salary increases. The new contract, approved 122-2, allows officers to potentially top out at $70,000 a year by the time they retire, more than the roughly $62,000 under the old contract. School officers, who earn an average $50,000 a year, also are getting $2,000 to $4,000 bonuses. "The focus is to have a system that rewards good officers or officers who stand out," said Cpl. Clyde Boatwright, who heads the Fraternal Order of Police lodge representing the 142-member force.

More than 70 Baltimore City schoolchildren went holiday shopping Saturday morning with school police officers during the annual "Shop with a Cop" event. City Schools Police Chief Marshall "Toby" Goodwin and 30 officers volunteered their time, picking the students up from their homes and taking them with lights and sirens activated to a Wal-Mart in Glen Burnie to shop for themselves and their families. Goodwin said police raised enough money for each child to have $100 to spend.

Drivers in Howard County will begin to see speed cameras near schools starting Monday, when county police begin a program aimed at slowing motorists near the more than 100 schools in the county. Police will post an online weekly list of streets where the movable cameras will be placed, warning drivers to expect to see one of the two cameras there on a weekday. "They will always be posted a week in advance," said Sherry Llewellyn, a police spokeswoman. For the first month, owners of cars traveling at least 12 mph over the speed limit will be issued warnings.

An incident during Monday's Northwestern at Patterson baseball game is being investigated by school police. "An altercation did occur," said Patterson athletic director Bill Buckless. "I can't comment on it. I wasn't there. But I am gathering written reports from witnesses. " Buckless said school police — officers are assigned to each school — are collecting information "and investigating what happened and who was at fault. " Northwestern athletic director Jerry Molyneaux did not return messages and Baltimore City coordinator of athletics Bob Wade referred questions about the incident to city schools spokeswoman Edie House-Foster, who had left for the day when her office was contacted.

The 21-year-old man accused of attacking a seventh-grader inside a Dundalk middle-school bathroom this week stuck a sock in the student's mouth, punched him in the face, neck and chest, and attempted to sexually assault him, according to court documents released Friday. Sean Thomas Schleigh, who has a history of arrests on theft, trespassing and drug offenses, was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree sex offense, second-degree assault, false imprisonment, resisting arrest and second-degree assault on a police officer.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold said Tuesday that he plans to fund school resource officers at two more county middle schools, in an attempt to curb student violence and bullying. Leopold has pledged about $200,000 in funding from the forthcoming county budget to pay for school resource police officers at Corkran Middle School in Glen Burnie and Wiley H. Bates Middle School in Annapolis. Leopold said he got a request from the Parent Teacher Association at Bates to take action.

Baltimore County police have arrested two people in connection with a break-in and acts of vandalism at Dundalk High School over the weekend. Police planned to charge the two — a man and a juvenile — with second-degree burglary, theft and destruction of property. Lt. Robert McCullough, a police spokesman, said that when officers made the arrests they recovered some items stolen from the school, including a laptop. The break-in occurred before dawn on Saturday, McCullough said.

A man was stabbed during a robbery early Friday at a Lansdowne elementary school, according to Baltimore County police. Officers met the victim about 5 a.m. at a 7-Eleven store. The man told police that a group of about 10 men assaulted him at 1 a.m. at Baltimore Highlands Elementary School. They tried to steal his money and stabbed him in the back three times, police said. The man tried to treat his wounds himself, but later went to the 7-Eleven to call police. He was taken to St. Agnes Hospital for treatment, police said.

A Baltimore City Schools Police officer shot a masked assailant suspected of robbing a store in East Baltimore Sunday night, and police were searching for two alleged accomplices who had apparently gotten away, police said. The unidentified suspect was shot once in the upper body and taken to an area hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, police said. Just before 8:30 p.m., someone approached the on-duty officer, who was at a restaurant in the 2000 block of Harford Road, and said a dollar store across the street was being robbed, said Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman.