Police in Montgomery and Queen Anne's counties have charged a Sidwell Friends middle school teacher with sexual abuse of a minor and other sexual offenses, according to law enforcement officials.On Wednesday, the private Northwest Washington school announced that it had fired social studies teacher Robert A. "Pete" Peterson, 65.
Peterson taught seventh and eighth grades and was director of the school's Camp Corsica on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He was placed on leave shortly before the beginning of the 2009-10 school year.
Peterson has not been permitted on campus or at school-sponsored events since then, school officials said. He was dismissed Jan. 14.
According to Montgomery County charging documents dated Jan. 14, Peterson befriended a male Sidwell student and repeatedly invited him to his Silver Spring home. Peterson showed the student pornography and touched him inappropriately, the charging documents say.
