Maria Town
Associate Director for the Office of Public Engagement
Maria Town serves as an Associate Director for the Office of Public Engagement, where she works to engage the disability community and coordinate engagement amongst Federal agencies. Maria previously served as a Policy Advisor for the US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy on the Youth Policy Team. In this role, her work focused on youth development and leadership, career development, and community colleges. Before beginning her public service, Maria worked in the Provost’s Office of Emory University where she focused on issues related to diversity and community building. Originally from Louisiana, Maria received her B.A. from Emory University in Anthropology.

How not to get away with robbery: Hop the White House fence

JOSH LEDERMAN and JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press
April 26, 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) — Here's a surefire way to get busted for robbery: leave the scene of the crime and hop over the White House fence.

The White House was locked down briefly Tuesday after a man jumped the fence alongside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a White House facility where presidential staffers work. Secret Service spokesman Robert Hoback said an initial investigation suggested that the man was fleeing a robbery just across the street.

Secret Service officers quickly detained the man, who hasn't been identified publicly, but not before he suffered a cut to his finger. Doug Buchanan, a spokesman for the fire department in Washington, said emergency workers responded to help transport the man to a local hospital under police supervision to treat injuries to his hand.

At the White House, canine teams and armed Secret Service agents gathered on the North Lawn of the White House as the area around the complex was cleared. Reporters working inside the White House were kept inside by automatically locking doors.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Police: Man Groped Woman Prior to Jumping White House Fence

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Apr 28, 2016, 10:18 AM ET

Authorities say a man who jumped over the White House fence earlier this week had minutes earlier groped a female college student and previously robbed others of a cellphone and purse.

The Washington Post ( http://wapo.st/1TdS8U0 ) reports that an arrest affidavit says 30-year-old Steven S. Cox, of no known address, injured his hand Tuesday afternoon while crawling along the fence near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital, at which point authorities say he sexually assaulted a nurse while handcuffed to a gurney and shackled in leg restraints.

Cox was charged by the U.S. attorney's office Wednesday with several counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse and robbery.

His public defender did not respond to the newspaper's calls seeking comment.