Howard County Child Sex Abuse Suspect Now Charged In 2001 Baltimore County Case: Police

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Parents already shocked by the news that a man who cared for their children had been arrested in connection to the ongoing sexual abuse of an 11-year-old were stunned when they learned that that same school employee had been accused of doing the same thing three years prior.

Dameon Patterson, 31, of Elkridge faces multiple counts of sex offenses involving an 11-year-old child. Patterson worked at Glenwood Country Day School in Woodbine as a before- and after-school program employee and also at summer camps.

The 11-year-old girl in this case told a friend about the abuse who notified a trusted adult. The adult contacted police and detectives launched an investigation, which led to Patterson’s arrest, according to the Howard County Police Department. The child reported that the abuse happened over a period of two years, with the last incident occurring in the summer of 2023.

Less than two weeks after Patterson was let out of jail on bail, he was arrested again. This time, it was for an incident that happened in 2021 at another daycare in Baltimore County called Padonia Park Child Centers, reports WMAR. A nine year-old girl at that child care center said she was touched inappropriately by Patterson. She told her parents and Social Services and the police were brought in. While the case was referred to the state's attorney's office, Patterson was never charged, WMAR learned. Until now.

Howard County Police told WMAR that it was their detectives who, after arresting Patterson in January, learned that he also had been investigated in Baltimore County in 2021 and reached out to BCPD, which led to his arrest there. Although WMAR reached out to the Baltimore County child care center, the Howard County school and the Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office, no additional information has been obtained in this case, the WMAR noted.

Court documents show Patterson has been charged with sexual abuse of a minor, two fourth-degree sex offenses and a third-degree sex offense in Baltimore County District Court.

Glenwood remains shut down however, which stems from the state issuing an emergency suspension on Jan. 5 that required the school to stop providing care immediately due to failing to notify the Maryland Department of Education Office of Child Care that one of its employees was being criminally investigated.

"We heard from a mom this week who already paid for her kid to attend summer camp at Glenwood like he did last year. She says the school never contacted her about the accused abuse. She had no idea whether her kid had been in contact with him, until after she asked him. She found out about it on the news. She's waiting for a refund for summer camp," WMAR reported.

In the Baltimore County case, charging documents say the victim said the touching happened "four times a day, every day she was there,” and "the victim does not believe anyone else could see Dameon touching her." The girl told investigators it happened after her other teacher left for the day, while other kids were busy playing, and would stop right before she was supposed to get picked up by a parent, WMAR reported.

Adam Rosenberg with LifeBridge Health's Center for Hope told WMAR it’s important for parents to have conversations with their kids about abuse.

"In the event of an active school shooter situation now, kids know how to get out. In the incident of abuse, a kid needs to know how to respond to it, and we as adults need to know how to prepare for that as well," Rosenberg said.

He also said that it’s even more important for child care facilities to be safe spaces for kids.

“And institutions can do a lot. They should be doing regular training for all their employees, to understand what the mandated reporting obligations are. They should be doing regular training for their employees to let them know what is abuse and what is not abuse. There should be supervision of the employees there. No employee at any child care facility should ever be alone with a child in a space that is not interruptable, and is not observable," Rosenberg told WMAR.

Anyone with information, including any other children who may have been victims, is asked to call police at 410-313-STOP or email [email protected].

Related:

Child Sex Abuse Charges Filed Against School Employee: Howard County Police