A substitute teacher for the Baltimore school system who also works at a West Baltimore recreation center stands accused of offering a 15-year-old money to participate in a sex act and is facing sex abuse charges.
Leroy Campbell, 59, was arrested April 2 and charged with sexual solicitation of a minor and a fourth-degree sex offense. He was released the next day.
Campbell could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Jessica L. Colwell, said in an email that that Campbell "adamantly denies these accusations. He is presumed innocent. He expects to be exonerated at the end of the trial process."
City spokesman Kevin Harris said Campbell works part time at the James McHenry Recreation Center. Harris said Campbell has not been scheduled for any shifts since being charged and is not being paid until the case is resolved.
Campbell underwent a background check before he started working at the center in 2009, Harris said. He said there is no record of any prior complaints against Campbell and that the city was notified of the charges through its background check systems.
Anne Fullerton, a spokeswoman for the city school system, confirmed that Campbell has worked in the district as a substitute teacher, but declined to say in which schools or whether he is still employed.
She said the district had no further comment.
City school salary records show that Campbell was hired by the system in 2009 and earned $17,600 last year.
Police say Campbell took the boy to his home at 10 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2014, to get money the boy earned for helping to clean the recreation center.
While there, police say, Campbell told the boy he had been sexually abused as a child and offered to pay him $20 if he allowed Campbell to perform a sex act on him. The boy said he was scared and called his mother, knowing she would demand he come home.
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