A former River Hill High School science teacher who took nude photographs of a student in his classroom was sentenced to four years in prison June 9.

The teacher, Alan Meade Beier, 54, of Columbia, was convicted in March of sex abuse of a minor and second-degree assault in a case that stems from an incident in his classroom at the Clarksville school in January 2007.

Howard County Circuit Court Judge Diane Leasure, who called Beier's actions "particularly disturbing," sentenced Beier to 10 years in prison with all but four years suspended for the sex abuse conviction and five years with all but two years suspended for the assault conviction, which will be served concurrently with the abuse conviction.

Beier also was sentenced to five years of supervised probation and will be required to register as a child sex offender.

Prosecutors had requested Beier be sentenced to six years in prison.

"The defendant certainly understood and knew that what he was doing was wrong," said Mary Murphy, senior assistant state's attorney. " ... This is not a lapse of judgment. This is a planned, criminal act."

Also during the hearing, Beier's attorney, Joshua Treem, read an excerpt of a letter that Beier wrote to the judge, which said, "I want to say I am sorry to (the student). I didn't mean to hurt him."

Treem argued that his client should only receive probation, contending that Beier committed no actual injuries or sexual abuse.

After the sentence was handed down, Treem said that Beier will file an appeal.

Treem also requested that Beier be released on bond while awaiting the review of his appeal, but Leasure denied the request, said Wayne Kirwan, a spokesman for the county State's Attorney's office. Beier is being held at the Howard County Detention Center pending his transfer into the state prison system, Kirwan said.

Beier still faces charges of sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree assault and fourth-degree sex offense in connection with allegations made by two other River Hill students. Trials in those cases are scheduled for August.

During Beier's first trial in March, the student, who was 16 years old at the time of the January 2007 incident, recounted how he went to Beier's classroom after school to earn community service hours to fulfill his National Honor Society requirements. The student said he thought he would be assisting Beier in setting up lighting and camera equipment.

Beier, the student said, asked him to bring a bathing suit to pose for some test shots. Once there, Beier asked him to remove various articles of clothing, the student testified. Then, Beier removed the student's boxer shorts and had him pose with a Ping-Pong paddle covering his genitalia, the student said. Beier also took photographs with the student's buttocks exposed, he said. The student testified that he was "shocked" during the incident.

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

In May 2007, Beier's attorney unsuccessfully argued that the evidence police collected at Beier's home be suppressed, challenging the legality of the affidavit on which the search warrant was based.

Last week, Treem again renewed his motion to suppress the evidence based on a recent decision on the topic in an unrelated case. Leasure denied Treem's renewed request.

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