A man who was working as a teacher and rowing coach in Bethesda, Maryland, is accused of sexually abusing a student in 2018, police said Tuesday.
Kirkland Shipley, 47, of Northwest D.C., was arrested Tuesday and charged with child sexual abuse of a secondary education student, police said.
An investigation revealed that Shipley “sexually abused the female victim on multiple occasions” in D.C. in May and June 2018, police said.
Shipley is a social studies teacher and rowing coach at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. He was placed on administrative leave when school officials learned of the charges, administrators said in a letter to families.
“These charges are deeply troubling and are a violation of the core values of our school and school system. We hold our employees to a high standard of character, and this behavior is completely unacceptable,” the administrators wrote.
Shipley has worked for Montgomery County Public Schools since 2001, administrators said. It wasn’t immediately clear if he has a lawyer.
Shipley coached the men’s and women’s crew teams at Whitman High, winning state championships, a biography on the teams’ website says.
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The alleged victim was a former student, the letter to families said. The ongoing criminal investigation could reveal additional victims, according to school administrators.
Counseling staff will be available to speak with students.
Shipley was released and is set to appear in court in November.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
