A former English teacher at H.D. Woodson Senior High School pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing one of his students.

Continue reading

Thomas M. Irvin, 48, of the District, pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to one charge of second degree sexual abuse of a secondary education student. He faces up to two years in prison.

Authorities said Irvin, while a teacher at Woodson, sexually abused a student in March 2011 in a bathroom at the school.

This is the first conviction under a new District of Columbia law, which took effect in January 2011, that prohibits a teacher, counselor, principal, coach, or other person in a position of authority in a secondary school from engaging in a sexual act or sexual contact with a student enrolled in that school or school system who is under the age of 20.