Ex-teacher gets home detention

Released ahead of trial, he faces rape, sex abuse charges

A former Gilman School teacher accused of sexually abusing children will be released from jail to pretrial home detention, a Baltimore County judge ruled Tuesday.

Chris Bendann, 38, faces charges of rape and sexual abuse of a minor related to alleged abuse of a teenager from 2016 to 2019, as well as misdemeanor charges of sexual contact and perverted practice.

Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Jan Marshall Alexander ordered Bendann to stay away from the North Baltimore school, minors under age 18 and the state’s witnesses in his case.

Baltimore County Police arrested Bendann on Feb. 3, weeks after he was fired from his position at Gilman, where he had worked since 2007.

Bendann’s attorney, Kobie Flowers, requested his release, arguing the ex-teacher was not a danger to the community and could be held under less restrictive conditions.

Flowers said Bendann has no prior criminal record and pointed to 13 relatives and friends who attended Tuesday’s hearing in support, including Bendann’s father.

“The community is here on his behalf,” said Flowers, adding that Gilman parents trusted him to housesit and babysit their kids for years.

Flowers said Bendann was on suicide watch at the Baltimore County Detention Center and that his life had been threatened in jail because of his charges.

“This is a ‘he said, he said’ case,” Flowers said. “The allegations are very, very serious, but the evidence is very, very slim.”

Assistant State’s Attorney John Magee said Bendann posed a threat to adolescent boys and that he had placed himself in a trusted position that granted him access to victims.

The school fired Bendann after receiving reports that in July and August 2021 he gave children alcohol, brought them to St. Paul’s School and Meadowood Regional Park and asked them to take their clothes off and run around naked in front of him, according to charging documents.

“What Gilman uncovered was just the tip of the iceberg,” Magee said.

He said Gilman had counseled Bendann previously about crossing boundaries with students after other staff raised concerns.

A Gilman alumnus told police that Bendann began sexually abusing him when he was 15 and threatened to reveal nude photos of him to ensure his silence, charging documents said. Magee said Bendann confronted the victim after Gilman fired him and threatened to ruin his career.

“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and believe he should be held without bail,” said Brian Thompson, an attorney representing the unnamed victim, after Tuesday’s hearing. “We believe Mr. Bendann is a danger to the community in general.”

Bendann graduated from Gilman in 2003 and went on to attend Skidmore College, where he earned a degree in history. He has held multiple positions at the school, including teaching social studies and geography, coaching sports teams and directing a mentoring program, Flowers said.

The school commissioned a report in 2021 that revealed decades of alleged sexual abuse of students from the 1950s to 2008.