Rogie Bantigue Legaspi, a Baltimore elementary and middle school teacher, is being held on $5 million bail after authorities accused him of sexually abusing and trafficking a teenage boy in Pennsylvania. The allegations are based on charging documents reported by The Baltimore Banner; they have not been tested at trial.
The Banner reported that investigators say Legaspi met the boy through social media when he was 12 and that the alleged abuse began the following year. According to the charging documents, the victim told police that Legaspi repeatedly drove from Baltimore to Chester County, Pennsylvania, to abuse and record him, with additional encounters allegedly occurring in a vehicle and Lancaster County hotels. The documents also allege that Legaspi arranged for another man to abuse the boy and sent the victim sexually explicit recordings and images.
Legaspi faces charges including trafficking individuals, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and statutory sexual assault, according to the Banner. Investigators say they linked him to the alleged identity used online through phone records, photographs, vehicle information, hotel records and surveillance footage. The victim also told police that Legaspi provided money and other items in connection with the abuse, the newspaper reported.
What the trafficking charge means
Pennsylvania’s model response protocol says prosecutors do not need to prove one of the listed force, fraud or coercion methods when the alleged victim is a minor in a sexual-servitude trafficking case, according to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The state Department of Human Services similarly explains that, under federal law, sex trafficking involving a person under 18 does not require proof of force, fraud or coercion, according to its guidance on human trafficking. Those legal standards explain the framework for the charge; they do not establish that the allegations against Legaspi are true.
School employment remains a separate question
Legaspi was identified as a teacher at Hamilton Elementary/Middle School. The Banner reported that Baltimore City Public Schools had not immediately provided a response about his employment status. Maryland’s State Department of Education says prospective employers must obtain information from current or former employers about an applicant’s history of child sexual abuse or sexual misconduct investigations and related employment or certification actions, according to the department’s employment-history form. That requirement concerns screening and reporting procedures; it does not show that the alleged conduct occurred at school or involved school students.
Comparable Baltimore-area cases
Recent cases involving educators show why the comparison should be limited to documented similarities rather than treated as evidence of a broader trend. CBS Baltimore reported that Perry Hall High School gym teacher Sean Brooks was placed on administrative leave after a June 2025 arrest in a separate child-sex-abuse case; he later pleaded guilty and was sentenced, according to CBS Baltimore.
In another Baltimore County case, former Woodlawn Middle School teacher Sydnie Haywood pleaded guilty to sex offenses involving a former student after the alleged abuse was reported in February 2025, CBS Baltimore reported in its coverage. Those cases differ in their allegations, locations and outcomes, and a small number of incidents cannot establish that educator-related sex crimes are becoming more common.
Case status
A judge arraigned Legaspi on Sept. 19 and set bail at $5 million, which he could not post, the Banner reported. He is being held in Chester County Prison. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28 at 8:30 a.m. in Parkesburg, according to the Chester County Court Administrator’s Office. The case remains at the allegation stage, and the preliminary hearing will be an early opportunity for prosecutors to present evidence supporting the charges.
