He also has worked as a “paraeducator” at Springbrook High School since August 2007. Ridges also served as a coach for the high school’s boys’ basketball junior varsity team.

The charges against him stem from a July 20 incident when he drove a 16-year-old girl home from the Horizon facility. She accepted, and as they drove toward her home, he asked her about a previous occurrence, according to police.

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Ridges told her that when she was a camper at Horizon’s summer camp program at a pool two years ago, he had touched her in a “private area and that it was purposeful,” according to police. She had “previously believed the touching was accidental,” officials said in a statement.

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As they drove, Ridges tried to “engage the victim in a sexual conversation,” police said.

He also “posed inappropriate questions” to her, including asking her about her “previous sexual encounters” and about drinking alcohol as he parked in front of a liquor store. Police said Ridges also asked her to “send naked photographs of herself to him via cellphone,” according to a statement.

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Officials said Ridges also “propositioned the victim to engage in sexual acts with him during the car ride.”

Officials said they learned of the abuse on Sept. 5. Police said they got a warrant and Ridges was arrested and charged on Friday. He was released on bond.

School officials sent a letter to parents Monday and Derek Turner, a spokesman for Montgomery County Public Schools, said Ridges was “immediately placed on administrative leave” once officials knew of the police investigation.

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The letter from Principal Arthur Williams described the behavior as “upsetting and unacceptable.”

Ridges had worked in the county’s school system since 2005. Previously, he worked as a lunch hour aide at Burnt Mills Elementary School for a year. He then worked as a lunch hour aide and a special education classroom assistant from 2006 to 2007. And since August 2007, Ridges has worked as a classroom assistant at Springbrook.

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Ridges worked for 18 years as a group leader for elementary-school-aged children at Horizon Child Care Inc., primarily at the organization’s Jackson Road location, said site director Merlissa Reid. She added that during his there were no allegations about his behavior. She declined Monday to say if he remained employed with the organization and said “he is not eligible to work with children” due to the allegations against him.

Electronic court records did not show an attorney listed for Ridges.