Charges against the former principal of Aberdeen Middle School and a paraeducator at the school alleging that the two failed to report a rape have been dropped.

Former principal Regina Jones and paraeducator Tanya Johnson were charged July 16 with failure to report child abuse/neglect and abuse/failure to report, both misdemeanors. Jones’ charges were dismissed last week during a hearing in Harford County Circuit Court and Johnson’s charges were dismissed Tuesday.

In a motion for dismissal dated Dec. 10, attorney Patrick Seidel, who represented Jones, pointed out that under state law, to qualify as abuse or sexual abuse, the perpetrator must be a parent; household member; family member; a person who has temporary care or custody of the child; a person in supervision of the child; or someone who is in a position of authority of the child.

Since the suspect was a 17-year-old boy who did not live with the victim, the victim’s sexual assault disclosure “did not trigger defendant’s reporting obligations” under state law, Seidel said.

Under Maryland law, educators, health practitioners, human service workers and law enforcement officers are required to report suspected child abuse or neglect. However, on April 13, 2023 — the day after a student was allegedly raped — Jones, 44, Johnson, 56, and social worker Eva Thornton, 66, were made aware of the incident by the victim but did not contact police.

Aberdeen Police confirmed in a September news release that neither Jones nor Johnson reported the alleged rape to police or child protective services and that  Aberdeen Police were not made aware of the incident until April 18, 2023, when officers were dispatched to University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace for the report of an alleged rape.

Due to the delays caused by school officials not informing police and the intricacies associated with law enforcement, juveniles and the school system, the investigation spanned more than a year until a 17-year-old boy was arrested in July. Under state law, the name of the suspect and records related to the arrest are not available to the public because of his age.

Jones, Johnson and Thornton were all charged in July; Thornton pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of failure to report child abuse/neglect on July 2. Thornton was given probation before judgment, according to court documents.

Jones was principal at Aberdeen Middle School since at least 2022. A Harford County Public Schools official said Monday that as of Sept. 14, 2023, Jones was placed on extended leave, and she was not serving as principal at the time of her arrest.

“We can confirm that all employees accused of failure to report child abuse were removed from the school immediately upon notification of charges against them, per standard protocol,” Jillian Lader, HCPS communications manager, stated in an email in September after police issued a release disclosing the charges.

Johnson’s public defender, Andrew Geraghty, declined to comment on the case.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.