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Christopher Papadopoulos, a 26-year-old former high school football coach at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Maryland, has found himself in trouble with the law.
According to a report from WUSA-9, Papadopoulos has been arrested and charged with sex crimes relating to the abuse of two former high school males.
Papadopoulos was a coach at the school from 2016 to 2020.
The investigation into his abuse began in February 28, 2020, and has been arrested with offenses that include sexual abuse of a minor. Authorities are continuing to investigate whether there may have been more victims.
“At the time of the offenses, the victims played football for the Thomas S. Wootton High School and Papadopoulos was one of the coaches. The sexual interactions occurred after school hours and did not occur on school property,” Montgomery County Police Department said in its statement.
The Montgomery County Police Department added, “Papadopoulos was served with an arrest warrant charging him with offenses to include sexual abuse of a minor.”
Over the course of the past year alone, a handful of teachers have been arrested on similar charges, including 25-year-old substitute teacher Alexis Mercedes Boberg in Baltimore, Beulah High School teacher Kelsie Schmidt in North Dakota, Rancocas Valley Regional High School teacher Alexandra Reiner in New Jersey, and 50-year-old Florida substitute teacher Angela Jean Stanton in Florida. Additionally, Texas teachers Meredith Null and Edna Longoria were arrested on similar charges.
As for why the number of these incidents has seemingly increased, studies suggest that smartphones are the primary reason for the spike in illicit relationships, as it allows teachers to communicate with the minors without supervision.
According to a report from the Texas Education Association, smartphones make easy for teachers to privately text and talk with students and also make it possible for teachers and students to share explicit images.
