A former educator for the Howard County school system who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a student he met on the Grindr app was sentenced Monday to the time he had already served in prison and was ordered to register as a Tier II sex offender.

Howard County Police arrested William Nelson II, of Elkridge, in November and charged him with a third-degree sexual offense after a 15-year-old Guilford Park High School student reported to school staff that he’d had a sexual encounter with the 26-year-old paraeducator.

Authorities said Nelson met the boy on Grindr, an LGBTQIA+ dating app, and told him he worked at the school and had seen him in the cafeteria. Nelson then drove to meet the boy near the boy’s home. The teenager told officers that he and Nelson engaged in sexual intercourse in Nelson’s car, according to court records.

Assistant State’s Attorney Maria Stamidis told the court this week that DNA from a condom found on the street matched Nelson’s DNA. The victim was forced to tell his mother about his sexuality as a result of the case, Stamidis said.

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Stamidis read a statement from the victim’s mother, saying it was written with the help of Google Translate. The mother did not attend court due to a recent surgery. The statement described how the incident continues to affect the family.

Stamidis asked the court to sentence Nelson to 10 years in prison, with all but three years suspended. State sentencing guidelines recommend six months to four years.

Defense attorney Thomas Maronick Jr. told the court that Nelson had already served about nine months in prison, which is more than the minimum sentence.

About a dozen people attended the hearing in support of Nelson, some of whom gave statements pledging to provide him with mentoring and spiritual counseling upon his release.

Nelson also made a statement ahead of the sentencing.

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“I am not perfect,” he said. “I made a mistake that day and I have learned from my actions.”

Circuit Judge Philip Nichols Jr. sentenced Nelson to 10 years, suspending all but the 253 days he’d already served since his arrest, plus five years’ probation.

In addition to registering as a sex offender, Nelson must submit to treatment and a psychosexual evaluation. He is barred from contact with the victim and unsupervised contact with minors.

Banner reporter Darreonna Davis contributed to this story.