WALDORF, Md. – A teacher in Charles County was recently charged by a grand jury with three counts of felony sexual abuse of children that he taught between 2018 and 2019.
Matthew Anthony Strain, 54 of Prince Frederick, was formerly a teacher at Saint Peter’s School in Waldorf. Saint Peter’s School is a private school overseen by the Archdiocese of Washington.
According to court documents, Strain stands indicted for sexually abusing three female students during his time as a teacher.
The defendant allegedly taught each of the victims and while in the classroom, would have them sit on his lap.
He would allegedly kiss their foreheads, hug them for extended periods, and touch them along their thighs.
The first count alleges an incident that took place between February and March of 2018. The other two counts allege that additional incidents of a similar nature with different students took place between September 2018 and June 2019.
Strain had an initial hearing on July 1, 2022. A trial date is currently set in Charles County on October 24th.
One parent at Saint Peter’s School told TheBayNet.com they were upset with the school’s failure to disclose any details sooner and failing to disclose any details to families no longer at the school.
“The school never said anything to the families in 2019,” the parent said in an email. “The school failed this group of students as a whole. They did not notify us of these allegations until we found out through current families that are still there, that more than likely were not even affected by this man.”
The charges were placed against Strain in June of 2022. Saint Peter’s Principal and Pastor sent the following letter to parents on September 22, 2022:
“Dear Parents and Guardians,
We are deeply saddened to inform you that Mr. Matthew Strain, a former staff member of our school, was indicted on three counts of felony sexual abuse of a minor for incidents that are alleged to have occurred in 2018 and 2019 during the time he was employed at Saint Peter School. A trial has been scheduled for October 24, 2022. We continue to monitor the situation and will keep the community apprised of any developments.
Saint Peter’s Parish and School and The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington take seriously our responsibility to protect the children entrusted to our care. Given the gravity of this matter and the Archdiocese’s steadfast commitment to the safety of our youth and healing for those who may have been harmed by abuse, it was important that we share this with you.
The Child Protection & Safe Environment Policy of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington mandates criminal background checks, applications, and safe-environment education for all employees and volunteers who work with young people, including at the time Mr. Strain.
We encourage anyone with any information that may be helpful in this matter to contact the Charles County State’s Attorney’s office at 301-932-3350.
If at any time you become aware of improper conduct by anyone in archdiocesan ministry, please contact Courtney Chase, Executive Director of the Archdiocese’s Office of Child Protection & Safe Environment, at 301-853-5302.
Please keep in your prayers all who have been affected by this situation. We thank you for your vigilance in our ongoing efforts to keep our young people safe at all times.”
This is a developing story. We will continue to provide additional details on the case as they are made available.
Contact our news desk at news@thebaynet.com
What happened to “innocent until proven guilty”. He has been indicted, not convicted
Exactly.
Matthew Anthony, don’t you have better things to do than cry for your own innocence as anonymous?
HAHHAHA FR like just stop for your sake you look silly💀
right, and this report is on his being indicted, that’s still news
And the democrats STILL don’t want cameras in the classrooms.
Have you figured it out yet or will you be voting for more of this for the kids in November?
ok now… don’t start with that politics stuff
This is a private school democrats couldn’t tell them what to do anyhow.
They should have known just by the creepy look on his face
Poor judgement yes, abuse not hardly.
I witnessed this in person. He was my 5th grade teacher in 2018-2019..
Bill crap! You didn’t witness anything because it never happened and you know it! If you witnessed it in 2018-2019, why didn’t you bring it to anybody’s attention then? Instead, you say you witnessed it 4 years later. The young lady who made the initial allegation did so because she wasn’t getting a grade she wanted. Awfully coincidental that after the mother met with the teacher to discuss the grade, and he told the mother the young lady didn’t earn a higher grade, that’s when the allegations come out. Quit lying!
As a student of him that witnessed this, it was horrifying.
Ong
I hope you never falsely accuse someone again. I pray GOD has pity on your soul.
Bull crap! See my comment above and quit lying! How can you sit there and make up lies and ruin someone’s life like this?
Poor headline, makes public schools look bad yet it’s another Catholic Church cover up story it seems.
You’ve got to be joking! It’s divulged in the second sentence. St. Peter’s is in fact a Charles County school. And,”another cover up” you claim? You have the story, his picture, and the allegation. What has been covered up? Who was the last teacher that Catholic Church sought to shield from prosecution? For this to be another there would have to have been a prior according to your logic. Also, the headline does nothing to make public schools look bad. Public schools, at least in Charles county, are doing that on their own. That is, if we’re going to use the headlines as a measurement.
Well said Inquisitor! Catholic churches and schools have an excellent track record with children and the earth is flat.
Sending a notice to parents four weeks prior to a court trial is not acceptable. This does not allow other possible victims and
/or witnesses to come forward and have time to prepare. I hate to see victims come forward 10-25 years later.
Receiving a notification four weeks to his court trial is awfully short . This is not adequate time for other possible victims and/or witnesses to come forward. I would hate to see victims make statements or accusations 25 years later as we’ve seen those happen in the past.
so many comments for someone who hasn’t been arrested.
Some things you just can’t make up !
Any update on what happened at his trial? I haven’t seen any news lately.
St. Peter’s School released a statement on December 15, 2022 that Matthew Strain will receive a sentence of one year in prison, registered as a sex offender, and receive mental health treatment.
The school should be investigated . This has happened to both men and women teachers at this school. I would not allow my children to attend the school cause obviously there is something not right at the school. If the select teachers can hug their students and others are falsely accused of doing something criminal and they are not doing anything more than the other teachers in that school are doing than something is not right.
The school should be investigated . This has happened to both men and women teachers at this school. I would not allow my children to attend the school cause obviously there is something not right at the school. If the select teachers can hug their students and others are falsely accused of doing something criminal and they are not doing anything more than the other teachers in that school are doing than something is not right.