A woman who says she was the victim of abuse by Anne Arundel County school board candidate Charles “Chuck” Yocum has come forward publicly in a social media post to tell her story.

“I am tired of hiding,” said Terrie Jahnigen Warfield, who testified against Yocum in 1994 when he was on trial and ultimately acquitted of child sexual abuse. “I am so sick and tired of people throughout my life have walked all over me and they sit there and get away with it.”

Warfield, 52, maintains that the story she told a jury in a courtroom 30 years ago was the truth. She said she believes Yocum abused other victims and she would like them to report their experiences to police and school officials.

“I just want justice. I want to be set free and I think they do, too,” Warfield said.

Yocum, 61, of Pasadena, has repeatedly denied all of the allegations against him. He did not respond to a request to comment this week.

The Baltimore Banner reported earlier this month on the charges Yocum faced and his removal from his teaching position at Northeast High School over those and other accusations 30 years ago. When The Banner interviewed Warfield last month, she did not want to be named. The Banner does not name people who say they are victims of sexual abuse without their consent.

Though Yocum was found not guilty of the charges in 1994, school officials had enough concerns that they launched an extensive internal investigation. That investigation turned up more claims that Yocum sexually harassed or made inappropriate comments to students as young as 13. He never returned to teaching.

“The allegations against Mr. Yocum present a significant dilemma for school officials,” stated the internal investigative report from 1994, which has never been made public but was reviewed by The Baltimore Banner.

“Mr. Yocum was found not guilty of sexual child abuse in a criminal court. This investigation, however, reviewed additional allegations against Mr. Yocum which were not criminal behaviors but possibly indicative of misconduct or immorality.”

Warfield said that when she was a special education student in Yocum’s classroom in 1989, he showed concern for her well-being. She told investigators at the time that she performed oral sex on him. She said the abuse took place in Yocum’s classroom closet and in a bedroom in his house, where they had intercourse.

In response to the Banner story, about a half-dozen Anne Arundel Democrats, including the County Executive Steuart Pittman, have asked Yocum to withdraw from the race for a District 3 seat on Anne Arundel County’s school board. Yocum is running against Erica McFarland, who led Yocum by about 700 votes in the four-way primary race that narrowed the field to two.

At a forum with the two candidates last week, there was no mention of the request by Democrats that Yocum drop out.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.