A private school employee who earlier this month was charged with sexual abuse of a minor in Howard County now faces similar charges in Baltimore County related to incidents that were first investigated in 2021, court records show.
Dameon Patterson, 31, of Elkridge, is charged with sexual abuse of a minor, two fourth-degree sex offenses and a third-degree sex offense in Baltimore County District Court, according to court records.
Patterson was charged in Baltimore County on Jan. 18, 2024. The incidents in which he is being charged allegedly occurred at the Padonia Park Child Center in January 2021, according to court documents.
The charges in Baltimore County come after Patterson was arrested earlier this month and charged with sexually abusing a minor and other related crimes at the Glenwood Country Day School in Howard County. In that case, Patterson is charged with abusing an 11-year-old girl between November 2021 and August 2023, according to court records.
In Baltimore County, while working as an employee of the Padonia Park Child Center in Cockeysville in 2021, court records state Patterson sexually abused a 9-year-old girl — an allegation he denied.
Reached by phone, the director of the Padonia Park Child Center said Patterson was not currently an employee there but could not comment further.
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During an investigation with the girl, she told a Baltimore County Police Department detective and a Department of Social Services worker that Patterson abused her four times a day, every time she was at the child care center, according to court documents.
The girl attended the center in Baltimore County from about Jan. 4, 2021, to Feb. 29, 2021, according to the charging document. Patterson was interviewed by a detective on Feb. 25, 2021 and denied abusing any children in any matter, according to the charging document. Investigators said they would provide information to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Scott Shellenberger, the Baltimore County state’s attorney, said Friday morning he was unable to comment on the case or why charges weren’t pursued in 2021, when Patterson was interviewed in Baltimore County.
“I typically don’t comment on pending cases,” he wrote in an email.
The school where the Howard County case allegedly happened, the Glenwood Country Day School, was ordered to stop providing care for not immediately notifying the state of the investigation into Patterson. It appeared, as of Thursday afternoon, that the school was still closed.
Its Facebook page had been locked or deleted, and when someone answered a phone number listed for the school, she said she could not say anything about the case.
Patterson has been released after paying bail in Howard County and on his own recognizance in Baltimore County. As a condition of his release, Patterson was ordered to stay away from any witnesses or victims, and from people younger than 18 years old.
An attorney listed for Patterson in online court records declined to comment.
This story may be updated.
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Cody Boteler is a reporter on The Banner’s Express Desk, reporting on breaking news, trending stories and interesting things in and around Baltimore. His work has appeared in The Baltimore Sun, USA TODAY, Baltimore magazine and others.
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