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A former DC high school teacher, John Aaron Gass, 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty to coercing and enticing a 16-year-old student into sex abuse. The abuse occurred in the spring of 2025, while Gass was working at the District of Columbia International School, a charter school in Northwest DC. Gass met with the victim on multiple occasions, including at her home, where he entered through her bedroom window late at night. The motive behind Gass’ actions is still unclear, but the outcome is certain: he faces sentencing on December 11, 2026.
According to court papers, Gass began communicating with the victim outside of school in the spring of 2025. He recorded videos of the abuse using the victim’s phone and exchanged sexually explicit images with her. The victim eventually disclosed the abuse, leading to Gass’ arrest at his Maryland home in December 2025.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the Metropolitan Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Rachel Bohlen as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative.
This initiative, launched in 2006, aims to protect children from online exploitation and abuse by marshaling federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet.
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