Dear MCPS Community,
Below is an update regarding Mr. Hector Lagos Toro, a former Montgomery County Public Schools employee who was recently arrested and charged with sex abuse of a minor and third-degree sexual offense. These charges stem from an incident that occurred in the 2010–2011 school year and involved a student at Stedwick Elementary School reaching into Mr. Toro’s pants pocket to look for candy. The alleged incident was not reported by the victim until March 2018.
As we previously shared, in addition to Mr. Toro’s employment with MCPS at South Lake and Stedwick elementary schools between 2001 and 2012, he also worked as part of two non-MCPS extracurricular, after-school language programs contracted through parent teacher associations. These programs are Big Learning’s Foreign Language in Elementary Schools (FLES) program and Foreign Languages for Kids, a program contracted through Flex Academies.
The aforementioned organizations have provided a list of schools and dates in which Mr. Toro worked in their programs. The list can be found at the following link: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/languages/homepage/Schools_Lagos%20Toro.pdf. These organizations have also shared that they have contacted families involved in these programs.
We are all deeply disturbed by the alleged behavior of Mr. Toro. Please know that MCPS, as well as both language programs, completed the required background checks on Mr. Toro.
For more information about Mr. Toro's employment with these programs, please use the following contacts:
School counselors and support staff are always available to provide counseling and support to students as needed.
If you or your child have any information that may be helpful to the investigation, I ask that you call the Special Victims Investigations Division of the Montgomery County Police Department at 240-773-5400. Thank you for your continued support of our efforts to keep our schools and your children safe.
Sincerely,
Derek Turner
Director, Department of Communications
Montgomery County Public Schools