Two Harford County Public Schools employees were arrested and charged with failing to report a rape allegation after a student told Aberdeen Middle School staff they were assaulted, the Aberdeen Police Department said Tuesday.

Regina Jones, who was principal of Aberdeen Middle School, and Tanya Johnson, who was a paraeducator, are both charged with failure to report child abuse/neglect after a student told them they were raped, police said.

Police learned of the rape allegation on April 18, 2023, when a local hospital alerted them. An investigation found the student was raped on April 12, 2023, and that the student reported it to school staff members on April 13, 2023, police said.

Police investigated and submitted findings to the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office. Jones and Johnson were criminally indicted on July 16, 2024, police said. Jones was arrested on July 26, and Johnson was arrested on Aug. 1, police said.

Police said they determined Jones and Johnson knew about the rape allegation on April 13, 2023, after the student confided in school officials. But neither woman made a mandated report to police or child protective services, police said.

Both were considered mandated reporters in the state, police said, which requires educators to report child abuse or neglect as soon as possible.

Jones was placed on extended leave effective Sept. 14, 2023, a spokesperson for Harford County Public Schools said, and she “was not serving as principal for Aberdeen Middle School at the time of her arrest.”

“She has not been the principal there since more than a year ago,” Jillian Lader, the spokesperson, said in an email. She remains on administrative leave, Lader said.

Johnson was fired from her position in July 2024, Lader said. She was placed on administrative leave when police told the school system about the allegations.

Lader said school employees accused of failing to report child abuse “were removed from the school immediately upon notification of the charges against them, per standard protocol.”

In some cases, failure to report abuse is poor judgement, said Chrystie Crawford-Smick, president of the Harford County Education Association. In others, it’s unacceptable. It’s rare for educators to be prosecuted for not reporting, the union leader said, but when abuse is mentioned, “it’s absolutely an educator’s obligation to report it.”

She said the school system trains school staff on mandatory reporting. The training includes an assessment at the end.

An attorney for Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Johnson did not have an attorney listed in online court records.

Aberdeen Police said a 17-year-old was charged in the rape reported in this incident. The 17-year-old was initially charged as an adult but moved back to the juvenile system, police said, and was charged with second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense, second-degree assault and false imprisonment.

This is a developing story.