Police: Church Volunteer Smoked Pot With Kids

After a 31-year-old man reportedly smoked marijuana with children who were in his care last year, police said he was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Police said Benjamin Siggers of Baltimore served as a youth group counselor for Severn United Methodist Church in Severn at the time of the incident. He was also a substitute teacher in Anne Arundel County Public Schools, police said. 

The pastor of the church said Siggers has resigned and will no longer be working with children.

In April 2012, Siggers reportedly provided transportation to an overnight youth group activity for two male juveniles at a camp near Edgewater. Police said that while driving the two boys to camp, Siggers produced marijuana and a smoking device that he shared with them.

The police department and social services began investigating Siggers on Feb. 19, according to a police press release.

On April 15, an application for a statement of charges was presented to the District Court Commissioner. After reviewing the probable cause, the commissioner issued a criminal summons charging Siggers with two counts of contributing to certain condition of child and two counts of possession of marijuana.

Schools spokesman Bob Mosier said that the only connection to AACPS is that Siggers was a substitute teacher in multiple schools from March 2012 to February. Police said once the investigation was launched, Siggers was immediately terminated.

“This is not a school incident,” Mosier said. “The allegations aren’t that anything happened in any of the schools.”

Pastor Wendy van Vliet of the Severn United Methodist Church confirmed that Siggers had been a volunteer working with the church. She said that once the church learned of the investigation, it immediately accepted Siggers resignation. Van Vliet declined to say whether the church requested the resignation or whether it came voluntarily. 

"We ensured the safety of our children by accepting his resignation," van Vliet said. "We do put the safety of the children first. We try to error on the side of safety. As soon as something came to our knowledge, we took steps."

Van Vliet said the church will continue to work toward strengthening its youth programs.

Odenton-Severn Patch Editor Tim Lemke contributed to this report.