A county judge on Thursday barred the public and reporters from a juvenile court hearing for a teen accused of first-degree rape in a football team hazing case that has stunned and angered the Damascus High School community.
At the hearing, one of the defendants pled guilty to reduced charges of second-degree rape and three counts of attempted rape, according to a report from The Washington Post, which cited three unnamed sources who were familiar with the matter.
Proceedings for each of four football players charged as adults with rape were moved to a juvenile court, where state law gives judges the discretion to close the hearings.
In November, four 15-year-olds were charged with first-degree rape for allegedly using a broomstick to assault teammates in a junior varsity football team locker room.
Sentencing is expected in two months, according to the newspaper’s account. It is not clear whether the three other students have appeared in court.
On Thursday, the defendant’s attorney David Felsen, of Rockville-based Felsen & Sargent, LLC, requested the hearing be closed, and county Circuit Court Judge Mary Beth McCormick complied.
Felsen declined to comment on any aspect of the hearing, including whether his client agreed to a plea or why he requested the judge close the court.
“It is inappropriate to talk about juvenile cases in public,” Felsen said in a telephone interview.
State law dictates that in cases in which a child is alleged to have been involved in a crime that would be a felony in adult court, all proceedings relating to the child shall be open, with one exception: If a there is “good cause shown,” a judge can exclude the general public from a proceeding and admit only the defendant and “persons having a direct interest in the proceeding and their representatives.”
A spokesman for the county prosecutor, citing law on juvenile cases, would not comment on the case or confirm reports that the teen had been offered a deal to plead guilty to a lesser charge.
McCormick did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson from the state Administrative Office of the Courts said in an email that none of the filings in the juvenile record are available to the public.
Damascus residents have voiced frustration about the lack of transparency from county officials about the case. At a public forum last month, some parents said their children feel ostracized and the community is struggling to move forward with limited information about ongoing investigations, a trend that will seemingly continue with the criminal cases proceeding through juvenile court, they said.
The incident initiated an overhaul of the school’s football program following an internal investigation, and a new athletic director took over last week.
The school system’s internal investigation found the Damascus High JV coaching staff left the team’s locker room unsupervised for 25 minutes, during which the alleged rapes occurred, prompting the school system to implement new guidelines and procedures for monitoring athletic teams. Damascus High’s principal has been transferred to a new administrative position in the school system’s central office and the JV coach was fired, according to school system officials.
Juveniles who commit sex offenses against other children are more likely to offend in groups and at schools, according to data from the U.S. Department of Justice. The vast majority – more than 90% – of youth offenders nationally are male, and most are sentenced to rehabilitation at a youth corrections facility or probation, depending on the severity of the crime, according to the department.
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
Charlie Wright can be reached at charlie.wright@moco360.media
