The case against a fourth Damascus High School teen charged with first-degree rape after a football team hazing will be moved to juvenile court, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge decided Thursday.
Jean Claude Abedi, 15, of Clarksburg, was charged as an adult and is facing two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of attempted first-degree rape, and two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree rape, following an alleged broomstick attack on football players in a locker room on Halloween night.
After hearings in the case earlier this week, Circuit Court Judge Steven Salant reviewed new reports and announced Thursday morning the case will be sent to juvenile court.
“He’s not escaping justice,” said Daniel Wright, the boy’s defense attorney, after the ruling. “What the judge did today was simply change the form where justice is going to be dispensed.”
The allegations of a culture of hazing have brought national attention to the 1,200- student school and its award-winning football program and school leaders have declined to elaborate on the cases and have promised a thorough investigation.
Evidence presented during hearings this week showed Abedi has been suspended 12 times and received 61 office referrals from 6th grade to 9th grade.
Wright attributed these problems to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder that went undiagnosed and he presented testimony from a clinical psychologist.
Prosecutors said Abedi had received services from the school system since October 2014.
“There’s been a problem with behavior escalation,” said Carlotta Woodward, a prosecutor.
Salant agreed that ADHD played a role in the boy’s behavior in public schools and observed the school wasn’t “investigating the cause, just trying to address the symptoms.”
“Despite continuing manifestations of ADHD of a severe nature, this child was not treated for it,” Salant said.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a news conference after the ruling that prosecutors “respectfully disagreed with the conclusions reached by the (psychologist)” and the idea that the disorder leads to these behavior is offensive to parents of children with ADHD who don’t act out.
“I just don’t see any causal connection of suffering from ADHD and committing violent acts,” McCarthy said.
Three other football players who have been charged with rape have had their cases moved to juvenile court, where a focus is on rehabilitation and providing services. McCarthy said it’s undecided whether the state will try the four together.
He added that juvenile cases can be open to the public, but the court has the authority to close proceedings as it sees fit
