A former teacher who was hired by Baltimore City schools after leaving the Baltimore County system amid questions about his relationship with a 13-year-old student was sentenced yesterday to a year and a half in jail for committing a sex offense against the girl.
Before the judge announced his punishment, Timothy Nicholas Gounaris, 50, of the first block of Cardor Court in the Perry Hall area, apologized to the girl, who is now 15, as she looked on from a front-row bench in court with her parents. He also sought forgiveness from his family for "the terrible mistakes I've made."
"I developed a wonderful bond with a great kid," said Gounaris, whose voice trembled as he choked back tears. "I had this young lady's trust, and I violated that trust. ... In moments of complete weakness, I did something destructive and stupid."
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. sentenced Gounaris to 10 years in prison but suspended all but 18 months. He also ordered Gounaris to register as a sex offender and barred him from having any contact with the girl or any children not related to him.
Gounaris, who will serve his sentence in the Baltimore County Detention Center, will be eligible for a work-release program after nine months. Within 30 days of finding a job, Gounaris must begin paying $10,000 restitution - in monthly increments of $150 - for medical expenses the girl has accumulated, and monthly payments of about $200 to cover costs of her continuing therapy. The girl has been hospitalized twice after suicide attempts, her mother said.
In April, Gounaris entered an Alford plea - in which a defendant concedes that prosecutors have sufficient evidence for a conviction but does not admit guilt - to a third-degree sex offense. In exchange, prosecutors dropped other charges, including second-degree rape and perverted practice.
According to charging documents, Gounaris sexually abused the 13-year-old during a two-week period in December 2005. The girl told police that the abuse took place in the bedroom of the man's home, court records indicate.
Although Gounaris was not charged until last November, Baltimore County school officials had known of concerns about the teacher since at least January 2006, when the girl's mother said she met with school officials to discuss her concerns about her daughter's relationship with the teacher. That's when school officials notified police, but the girl did not accuse the teacher of abuse for several months.
Gounaris was reassigned to a nonteaching job, and he resigned from the county school system in June 2006. Also that month, a judge issued a temporary restraining order directing Gounaris to stay away from the girl, court records show.
When the girl accused the teacher of abuse in October 2006, she told investigators that she initially "did not tell the truth because she was trying to protect him," court papers show.
In a victim impact statement made during yesterday's hearing, the girl told the judge that her relationship with Gounaris has made her more nervous and less trusting of adults.
Her mother told the judge that Gounaris' actions have left the family in turmoil and have prompted her and the girl to decide to move out of Maryland.
"At 13, you want love, and it's not your parents' love you want," the girl's mother said. "Mr. Gounaris did have her trust, but he never crossed a line because he never drew a line."
Neither the girl nor her mother is being named because The Sun does not identify sexual abuse victims.
Gounaris began teaching in Baltimore County in 2001 at Sparrows Point Middle School in Edgemere before moving to Pine Grove Middle School in Carney. Before that, he had taught for more than a decade in Harford County public schools, at Magnolia Middle School in Joppa and Fallston Middle School.
Last August, as required by state regulations, Baltimore County school officials asked the Maryland State Department of Education to revoke Gounaris' teaching certificate because he had resigned while under investigation for alleged misconduct with a student. The state did so in late September, meaning he couldn't be hired to teach in any public school in Maryland. But by then, he had been hired to teach eighth grade at Chinquapin Middle School in Baltimore.
Gounaris, who had been on paid administrative leave from his city teaching job pending the outcome of the court case, was fired in April, according to Vanessa Pyatt, a city school system spokeswoman.
Pyatt added that as a result of the Gounaris case, city school officials have made adjustments in their hiring practices. City school officials participated in management reference workshops, along with other school systems, including Baltimore County. During these workshops, state education officials assured local school districts that as long as they are sharing factual information, then "we are acting in good faith," Pyatt said.
gina.davis@baltsun.com