A Maryland middle school teacher is accused of sex trafficking and sexually abusing a teenage boy in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested while trying to meet with the minor, authorities said.
Rogie Legaspi, of Baltimore, is facing a slew of charges including trafficking in minors, 15 counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and manufacturing child sexual abuse material, according to a Friday, September 25, news release from the Chester County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania.
Legaspi, 56, allegedly repeatedly traveled from Maryland to Pennsylvania to sexually assault the now 15-year-old from June 2024 until June 2026.
Legaspi is a seventh grade science teacher at Hamilton Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore, per WBAL-TV.
According to a criminal complaint, Chester County detectives interviewed the 15-year-old after receiving a tip “expressing concern” for the boy, who Legaspi began communicating with when he was 12.
The boy said he and Legaspi, who he knew as “Alex,” first communicated with each other over the phone until Legaspi started traveling to meet with him in person.
Legaspi allegedly gave the minor money and other items in exchange for sex acts, which he recorded using his phone.
“On more than one occasion, [Legaspi] took the victim to hotels to engage in sexual contact with him and enticed and coerced the victim into sexual encounters with another adult male,” the district attorney’s office said in the news release.
Investigators confirmed Legaspi’s identity and involvement with the teen through his car registration information, automated license plate readers, records from hotel stays and surveillance footage, prosecutors said.
He was arrested on September 18, after investigators posing as the teen communicated with him and discussed meeting, according to authorities.
Legaspi was taken into custody at a “meet-up point” in Parkesburg Borough, prosecutors said.
“The Defendant coerced a child to have sex with him on multiple occasions, facilitated and attempted to facilitate contact between the victim and other adult men and — on one occasion — brought another adult male to sexually assault the victim,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said in a statement.
“This is child sex trafficking,” the district attorney added.
Legaspi didn’t immediately return a request for comment from Us.
Baltimore police discovered Legaspi had been arrested in Pennsylvania after visiting his home in response to a report that he had gone missing, WBAL-TV reported.
In September 22, a letter viewed by the TV station, Hamilton Elementary/Middle School principal Natasha Pouncey wrote to parents, saying that Legaspi had been located.
“However, please be advised that Mr. Legaspi has been placed on leave after we learned that he was arrested over the weekend for a crime involving a minor in Pennsylvania,” Pouncey said. “Due to employee privacy laws and the court proceedings, we are unable to share additional details at this time.”
Legaspi is being held in the Chester County Prison after he couldn’t post a $5 million bail, prosecutors said. He’s due in court for a preliminary hearing set for October 19.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
