SARASOTA, Fla. — A teacher is accused of inappropriately touching students at two different schools in Sarasota County.
Sarasota police say that in September, two students at Brookside Middle School reported that Maxwell Guss, a 34-year-old business teacher, touched them in ways that made them very uncomfortable.
A 13-year-old student told police Guss pulled up her bra-strap that fell off her shoulder and a couple of days later adjusted a cardigan she was wearing, saying the girl's bra was showing.
"Mr. Guss's thumb went inside her bra and his fingers touched her skin above her breast...Mr. Guss held his hand over her breast for approximately five seconds while staring into her eyes," the arrest report said.
The girl told police she was very scared and told him to get his hands off of her, according to the affidavit.
That investigation, which started in September, led to another report at Sarasota High where Guss taught Algebra 1 in 2017.
According to police, that year a 14-year-old girl told school administrators that Guss would come up behind female students and massage their shoulders, one time coming very close to her breast before she yelled at him to get his hands off of her.
Besides the massages, this student said Guss often commented on the female students' clothing and that he made "all the girls in the class uncomfortable," according to the arrest report.
The 14-year-old student told her mom about the incidents, and her mother went to the school, but no report was made to law enforcement, police say. The student was removed from Guss's class.
The girls interviewed in the affidavits said that Guss habitually had private meetings with students where he would ask personal questions, including if they had boyfriends, police say.
Guss was arrested Monday on two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct by a person over 18.
Manatee County Schools spokesperson Michael Barber sent this statement to 10News:
"I checked with our Office of Professional Standards and according to the information I have at this point we are unaware of any allegations against him while he was employed in our schools."
Sarasota County Schools sent the following statement:
"We are unable to comment about ongoing investigations, including those being conducted by local law enforcement partners. Please direct any investigation-specific questions to the Sarasota Police Department."
Police are asking anyone from Sarasota High or Brookside Middle in Sarasota County along with students where he once taught at Harllee Middle School and Bayshore High School to come forward if they have any other information or feel that they were violated by this teacher.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call Detective Angela Cox at 941-263-6075 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS or online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com.
A spokesperson with Sarasota County Schools provided the following statement:
I can confirm that Mr. Guss was put on administrative leave in September when the criminal investigation was launched. The district is not taking administrative action at this time, as criminal investigations supersede any internal administrative investigations. We will be looking into the matter from 2017 to gather more information and assess next steps.
As always, we appreciate the support of our local law enforcement partners, like the Sarasota Police Department, as we all strive to keep our students safe.
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