Former Perry Hall Gym Teacher Sentenced to 15 Years of Sexual Abuse of a Minor

A former Perry Hall High School teacher was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Monday for sexual abuse of a minor after police said he groomed and fondled multiple female students in school.

The victims told police that Sean Brooks, 41, of Bel Air, took them to private areas of the school, hugged and kissed them, rubbed their thighs, and had inappropriate discussions with them, including talking about his own sex life and asking about theirs.

A pre-sentencing investigation found that Brooks posed a moderate to high risk of reoffending. Brooks was interviewed by a mental health professional after his arrest and said that he felt he had done nothing more than fail to set boundaries with some students who had ‘little crushes’ on him.

“I assumed I was being mildly inappropriate at worst,” Brooks said in court. He said he now realizes the extent of the harm he caused and apologized to the victims.

“I feel ashamed, stupid, embarrassed, and disgusted,” he said. “What in God’s name was I thinking?”

He thought he was being a “big brother” figure to the students and said he’d wanted to be the “cool teacher” that students could trust and confide in. 

Judge Dennis Robinson told Brooks in court on Monday that he was none of those things. 

“You’re a creep,” Robinson told Brooks. “You’re a manipulator. You're an abuser. You’re a groomer. You're a predator, and you should be forced to carry a red flag and wear a warning label.” 

Prosecutors had recommended a nine-year sentence. As part of the plea, Brooks’ attorneys, Joseph Murtha and Sandy Steeves, had agreed to a minimum of four years in prison. The plea did not limit Robinson to any maximum sentence.

But for the second time in as many days, Robinson went beyond the state’s recommendation and imposed a prison term that was longer for a teacher charged with sex offenses. On Friday, Robinson sentenced another former Baltimore County teacher, Sydnie Holloway, to three years in prison for sex offenses stemming from a years-long sexual relationship with a former middle school student.

The initial charges against Brooks stemmed from incidents beginning in 2023 involving three female students. The victims were between 15 and 17 years old at the time. 

The girls were all students at Perry Hall, and all of the events happened on campus, police said.

Investigators said Brooks began grooming students in his health and gym classes through assignments that asked them to write about their personal problems.

Brooks later approached some students individually about what they had written and began ongoing inappropriate contact with them.

Prosecutors said he used the assignments to identify vulnerable girls and groomed those girls for years.

Two of Brooks’ victims gave impact statements in court on Monday, describing the anxiety, embarrassment, trauma, and confusion they have struggled with in the wake of his actions.

“I trusted him because I was taught to trust someone in his position,” one victim said. “Instead, he used that trust against me.” 

After Brooks abused her, she said, she started having panic attacks and often could not bring herself to enter the school building. She’s experienced flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, and self-loathing, she said.

“I felt damaged, disgusting, and unlovable,” she said. “I hated myself.”

A second victim said she initially pushed away any feelings of discomfort about Brooks, not believing that someone she trusted could have anything but her best interests at heart. 

She said she is slowly learning that being a trusting kid does not make what happened her fault.

“I was young, and he was an adult and was the person who was supposed to know better,” she said. 

Brooks looked down and turned his head away as the victims read their statements, avoiding eye contact with them.

Police charged Brooks in June 2025 with 15 counts of sexual abuse of a minor, 15 counts of assault, and one count of fourth-degree sexual offense.

He pleaded guilty in April to one count of sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of fourth-degree sexual offense, and three counts of second-degree assault. 

As part of the plea agreement, additional charges involving an alleged fifth victim in Harford County and a case with the United States Attorney’s Office were not pursued.

Assistant State’s Attorney Michael DeStefano said the FBI found messages on Brooks’ phone in the Harford County case where Brooks discussed pornography, masturbation, and other “wildly inappropriate and very much illegal” topics. 

The conversation escalated to an exchange of sexual photos and videos, DeStefano told the judge. Brooks told the minor he would lose his job if anyone found out she was considering “hooking up with a teacher” and termed their interactions as “forbidden fruit.” 

“He wanted to have sex with a student,” DeStefano said.  “The fact that it was a student seemed to only excite him more."

Brooks reportedly told one student she could be a porn star and said he could be her manager. He also made comments about intimate body parts but later said he didn’t mean anything sexual. 

“Seriously, who says these things to kids?” Robinson asked.

Robinson sentenced Brooks to 25 years for one count of sexual abuse of a minor and suspended all but 15 years of active incarceration. He ordered the sentences for the remaining charges to be served concurrently with the 15-year term. Brooks will be on specialized sex offender probation for five years after his release and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. 

“There simply cannot be a ‘next time,’” Robinson said.

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A former Perry Hall High School teacher was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for sexually absue of a minor after police said he groomed and fondled multiple girls at the school.

The victims told police that Sean Brooks, 41, of Bel Air, took them to private areas of the school, hugged and kissed them, rubbed their thighs and engaged them in inappropriate conversations, including discussing his own sex life and asking about theirs.

A pre-sentence investigation found that Brooks posed a moderate-to-high risk of reoffending. After his arrest, Brooks told a mental health professional that he believed he had done little more than fail to set appropriate boundaries with students who had “little crushes” on him.

“I assumed I was being mildly inappropriate at worst,” Brooks said in court Monday. He said he now realizes the extent of the harm he caused and apologized to the victims.

Reading how the victims have been impacted made him feel “ashamed and stupid, embarrassed and responsible foolish and disgusted with myself,” he said. 

“What in God’s name was I thinking?”

Brooks said he thought he was being a “big brother” figure to the students and had wanted to be the “cool teacher” whom students could trust and confide in.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Dennis Robinson told Brooks he was none of those things.

“You’re a creep,” Robinson said. “You’re a manipulator. You're an abuser. You’re a groomer. You're a predator, and you should be forced to carry a red flag and wear a warning label.”

Prosecutors had recommended a nine-year sentence. As part of the plea agreement, Brooks’ attorneys, Joseph Murtha and Sandy Steeves, had agreed that he would serve at least four years in prison. The agreement placed no upper limit on the sentence Robinson could impose.

For the second time in as many days, Robinson went beyond the state’s recommendation and imposed a longer prison term. On Friday, he sentenced another former Baltimore County teacher, Sydnie Holloway, to three years in prison for sex offenses stemming from a years-long sexual relationship with a former middle school student.

The initial charges against Brooks stemmed from incidents beginning in 2022 involving three female students, who were between 15 and 17 years old at the time.

All victims attended Perry Hall High School, and the incidents occurred on campus, police said.

Investigators said Brooks began grooming students in his health and gym classes through assignments that asked them to write about personal problems. He later approached some students individually about what they had written and began ongoing inappropriate contact with them.

Prosecutors said Brooks used the assignments to identify vulnerable girls and groomed them over a period of years.

Two of Brooks’ victims gave impact statements in court Monday, describing the anxiety, embarrassment, trauma and confusion they have struggled with in the wake of his actions.

“I trusted him because I was taught to trust someone in his position,” one victim said. “Instead, he used that trust against me.”

After Brooks abused her, she said, she began having panic attacks and sometimes could not bring herself to enter the school building. She has experienced flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia and self-loathing, she said.

“I felt damaged, disgusting, and unlovable,” she said. “I hated myself.”

A second victim said she initially pushed aside her discomfort with Brooks because she could not believe someone she trusted would have anything but her best interests at heart.

She said she is slowly learning that being a trusting child did not make what happened her fault.

“I was young, and he was an adult and was the person who was supposed to know better,” she said.

Brooks looked down and turned his head away as the victims read their statements, avoiding eye contact with them.

Police charged Brooks in June 2025 with 15 counts of sexual abuse of a minor, 15 counts of assault and one count of fourth-degree sexual offense.

He pleaded guilty in April to one count of sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of fourth-degree sexual offense and three counts of second-degree assault.

As part of the plea agreement, additional charges involving an alleged fifth victim in Harford County were not pursued, nor was a case with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Assistant State’s Attorney Michael DeStefano said the FBI found messages on Brooks’ phone related to the Harford County case in which Brooks discussed pornography, masturbation and other “wildly inappropriate and very much illegal” topics with the minor.

The conversation escalated to an exchange of sexual photos and videos, DeStefano told the judge. Brooks told the minor he would lose his job if anyone learned she was considering “hooking up with a teacher” and referred to their interactions as “forbidden fruit.”

“He wanted to have sex with a student,” DeStefano said. “The fact that it was a student seemed to only excite him more.”

Brooks also reportedly told one student she could be a porn star and that he could be her manager. He made comments about intimate parts of her body but later maintained that he had not meant anything sexual by them.

“Seriously, who says these things to kids?” Robinson asked.

Robinson sentenced Brooks to 25 years for sexual abuse of a minor, suspending all but 15 years. He ordered the sentences on the remaining counts to run concurrently, leaving Brooks with 15 years of active incarceration.

After his release, Brooks will serve five years of specialized sex offender probation and must register as a sex offender for life.

“There simply cannot be a ‘next time,’” Robinson said.