BALTIMORE, Md. — The two little girls holding hands on the back of this shirt were brought together for an unfortunate reason. But their moms are determined to give their story a happier ending.
"The reason this change is happening is because of her. While unfortunately it caused her to be a victim, it's also giving her a voice to be a survivor."
This Harford County mother of five asked us not to use her name to protect her child. Her daughter was just three years old when she was sexually abused by a teenager.
In December 2023, that teen pleaded guilty to second-degree rape. Months later, he pleaded guilty in another sex abuse case - this one involving a then-two year old in Baltimore County in 2022.
Throughout all of this, he was allowed to attend Patterson High School in Baltimore City. But parents and students weren't allowed to know a convicted rapist was in the classroom, because he's a minor.
"I was extremely concerned," the Harford County mother told WMAR-2 News' Elizabeth Worthington. "I was worried that the opportunity was there for him to strike again. He no longer had access to my daughter or the other victim, so what was his next move going to be? I also was concerned, if he had friends that didn't know, and he went over their houses, and they had younger siblings, were they going to be a victim of opportunity?"
Maryland law prevented schools from removing students, even a juvenile sex offender, unless they could provide evidence the student poses "an imminent threat of serious harm to the health and safety of other students and staff."
The mothers from Harford and Baltimore counties thought that needed to change, and lawmakers in Annapolis agreed. Juvenile sex offenders who are on the registry are now barred from attending state-funded schools in-person. The school must provide an alternative, like online learning.
"It was extremely emotional for me because it felt like, for once, not only did I have a voice, but my daughter did. It felt like we weren't alone anymore."
But those feelings were short-lived.
During a recent hearing, in which the victim's parents were not given time to speak, the Harford County mom says a judge sided with the public defenders, ending the 16 year-old's probation and his no-contact orders with the victims, removing him from the sex offender registry, and effectively closing the case.
“It was a slap in the face because we felt as though we were making progress and moving forward and then it was like, oh no here's a way for everybody to get around it,” the Harford County mom told WMAR-2 News.
He can now return to school in person. So the mothers are returning to the state capitol.
They've found an ally in Senator Johnny Ray Salling, (R-District 6, Baltimore County).
"We told them, we have their backs,” Senator Salling told WMAR-2 News. “We’re letting them know, we’re fighting for them, and we’ll always fight for our kids.”
He's sponsoring a bill that would expand the offenses that require a child to be added to the juvenile sex offender registry. The teen in this case wasn't added until after the second conviction.
And that's not all he's planning for this session.
“We're looking at a bill right now to see if we can cross-file to make sure that the person who's on the registry with this offense stays on the registry until they're 21,” Senator Salling said.
But the two mothers know that young victims of sexual abuse need more than just laws on the books.
“There's support when the allegations are first made, and you go through the whole court process, but once that is done, there isn't much support," the Harford County mother said.
The moms started a nonprofit to provide that support, and serve as advocates for other survivors of sexual abuse in Maryland.
It's called Pillars of Hope, the P&K Initiative, named after the initials of their daughters, who have inspired them to keep fighting.
“Seeing that she was resilient, and she is still her spunky, fiery self, and that she had the courage to even say what had happened to her,” the mother said through tears.
Back in the fall, Governor Moore ordered the Department of Juvenile Services to review information-sharing procedures over public school students charged or convicted of a violent crime.
That order came after a high school student convicted of attempted murder transferred schools from Anne Arundel to Howard County, where he was later accused of murder. School leadership in Howard County said they were never informed about his violent past.
That case also led the Maryland Department of Education to make a rule change.
The emergency regulation requires school superintendents to confidentially inform each other about students' violent criminal histories when a student transfers from one school to another. But the regulation does not say anything about alerting parents or students. So in this case, where a convicted rapist was attending a Baltimore City High School without parents’ and students’ knowledge, that rule wouldn't have changed anything.
The emergency regulation is only good for 180 days, unless it’s formally approved and adopted. Senator Salling’s bill aims to enshrine that regulation into law.