Rogie Legaspi is being held on $5 million bail after authorities accused him of sexually exploiting a teenager over roughly two years.
WEST CHESTER, PA — A Baltimore middle school teacher has been charged with child sex trafficking and multiple sexual offenses after Pennsylvania authorities accused him of exploiting a teenager for about two years and repeatedly traveling from Maryland to meet the child.
Rogie Legaspi, 56, a science teacher at Hamilton Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore, was arrested Sept. 18 in Parkesburg, Chester County, authorities said. He faces charges including trafficking individuals, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, exploitation and related offenses. Legaspi remains in Chester County Prison on $5 million cash bail as the criminal case moves forward. The charges are allegations, and he has not been convicted.
The investigation began after Chester County detectives received a ChildLine report concerning a 15-year-old, according to authorities and court records cited by news organizations covering the case. Investigators said the teenager reported first meeting a person he knew as “Alex” through a social media app when he was 12. Authorities allege that person was Legaspi. The teenager told investigators that the alleged sexual abuse began when he was 13 and continued from about June 2024 until June 2026.
Investigators allege Legaspi traveled from Maryland to Pennsylvania several times to meet the teenager, including encounters in Chester and Lancaster counties. Prosecutors said some meetings occurred in Legaspi’s vehicle and others at hotels. The teenager told investigators that Legaspi sometimes provided money and other items in connection with the encounters. Authorities also allege Legaspi recorded sexual activity and exchanged sexually explicit material with the child.
Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said at a news conference that investigators consider the allegations child sex trafficking because money and other items were allegedly provided to the minor in connection with sexual activity. Prosecutors also allege that Legaspi brought another adult man to one encounter involving the teenager. Authorities have not publicly identified that man in the reports reviewed for this article.
Investigators said they worked to identify the person the teenager knew as “Alex” using cellphone information, photographs, vehicle registration information, hotel records and surveillance video. Authorities said the evidence led them to Legaspi. Chester County detectives then posed as the teenager on Sept. 17 and communicated with Legaspi while arranging another meeting, according to police. Legaspi arrived at a predetermined location in Parkesburg the next day and was taken into custody without incident, police said.
The arrest initially created confusion in Baltimore because Legaspi had been reported missing after he did not return home. Members of the Hamilton Elementary/Middle School community circulated information seeking help finding him before learning he had been arrested in Pennsylvania. Baltimore police learned of the out-of-state arrest after officers responded to a missing-person report, according to local reporting.
Hamilton Principal Natasha Pouncey later told families that Legaspi had been placed on leave following his arrest. School officials said they had received no information indicating that the Pennsylvania case involved current or former Baltimore City Public Schools students. The Baltimore Banner subsequently reported that a district spokesperson said officials had identified no complaints against Legaspi and that he had been placed on paid administrative leave. The district said Legaspi had worked for Baltimore City Public Schools since 2008.
Authorities have described the case as an ongoing investigation. De Barrena-Sarobe said investigators had not identified additional victims at the time of his public remarks, and officials said the Maryland school district had cooperated with investigators. Legaspi remains jailed while the allegations proceed through the Pennsylvania court system. The Baltimore Banner reported that the Chester County Public Defender’s Office is representing him and that his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 12.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 26, 2026.