A former River Hill High School science teacher convicted in March of sexually abusing a male student was indicted by a Howard County grand jury this week in a second case of alleged sexual abuse.

On Aug. 6, a grand jury indicted Alan Meade Beier, 54, of Columbia, on one count of sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree assault, said Wayne Kirwan, a spokesman for Howard County State's Attorney Dario Broccolino.

In March, Beier was convicted of sex abuse of a minor and second-degree assault stemming from an incident in which Beier took nude photographs of a male student in his classroom at the Clarksville school in January 2007.

In that case, Beier was sentenced to four years in prison June 9 and required to register as a child sex offender.

In the second case, a grand jury originally indicted Beier in February 2007 on charges of sex abuse of a minor and second-degree assault in connection with accusations made by another male student younger than 18 years old.

Officials released no other details of the allegations in that case because police and prosecutors took the case directly to the grand jury, whose deliberations are sealed, as opposed to filing charging documents, which are public, Kirwan said.

In a hearing Aug. 4 in Howard County Circuit Court, however, prosecutors moved to amend the February 2007 indictment against Beier. The original indictment states that the abuse happened between April 1 and 21, 2006.

Based on a review of evidence seized from Beier's home, prosecutors believe the abuse happened between Feb. 1 and April 21, 2006, according to the prosecution's motion to amend the indictment.

Beier's attorney, Joshua Treem, asked the court to dismiss the case and deny the prosecution's amendment to the indictment.

According to Treem's motion to dismiss, Beier was accused in the original indictment of sexually exploiting the student by taking photographs of him. Treem's motion does not describe the nature of the photographs.

"To change the indictment at this stage would indicate that the state has new evidence that was NOT presented to the grand jury," Treem wrote in the motion. "Therefore, the substantive nature of this alleged offense is called into question."

Judge Luke Burns Jr., a retired Carroll County Circuit Court judge filling in for Howard County Judge Diane Leasure, denied both the state's motion to amend the indictment and the defense's motion to dismiss.

After that ruling, Senior Assistant State's Attorney Claude de Vastey Jones said prosecutors would drop the original indictment and seek a new grand jury indictment Aug. 6.

Beier also faces charges in connection with allegations made by a female student who was younger than 18. The student accused Beier of fondling her buttocks in his classroom on two occasions between May and October 2006, according to charging documents.

In February 2007, Beier was indicted on two counts of sex abuse of a minor, three counts of fourth-degree sex offense and two counts of second-degree assault in connection with that case. A trial date in that case has not been set.

Beier taught at River Hill for 11 years. The Board of Education terminated his teaching contract in June 2007.

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