A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge sentenced a man to 40 years in prison Tuesday for the 2024 rape of a 17-year-old girl in Aspen Hill, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
Charles Erby Jr., 47, of no fixed address, was convicted of two counts of second-degree rape March 19 in the Rockville court. In addition to prison time, Erby will be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life, Tuesday’s release said.
A public defender for Erby did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in the release that the judge, Terrence McGann, “very appropriately” gave Erby the maximum sentence for his crimes against the 17-year-old girl.
“This defendant preyed upon an innocent child in our community,” McCarthy said. “All of our children should be able to travel to and from school safely, without the concern of becoming victims of crime.”
The case stems from an incident on April 10, 2024, in which Erby “lured the victim into a wooded area” on the 13000 block of Veirs Mill Road in the area of Parklawn Local Park and sexually assaulted her, police said in a press release after Erby’s April 12 arrest.
After the incident, the victim reported to police that the rape occurred after she left school that day, according to charging documents. Erby, whom the teen did not know, began talking to her and complimenting her outfit while the two were outside of the Rockville Metro station shortly after 4:30 p.m. Both then boarded a Metro bus.
While on the bus, Erby asked the victim for her phone number and then texted her from his phone, charging documents state. A woman on the bus then sat in between the victim and Erby and wrote a note to the victim asking if she was safe. The victim “shook her head and mouthed, ‘I don’t know,’ to the woman and proceeded to show her a note on her cell phone that said, ‘I’m seventeen,’ ” charging documents state.
Feeling scared, the teen told police she then exited the bus at a stop near Veirs Mill and Aspen Hill roads, according to the documents. Erby then followed the teen off the bus and began asking questions such as if she had a boyfriend and if she was feeling “spontaneous and adventurous.” The teen and Erby then walked along Rock Creek Trail.
After a few minutes, Erby led the teen to a wooded area along the creek where he raped her, according to charging documents
Afterward, the teen and Erby exited the woods and she called her parents, according to charging documents. The parents transported the teen to the county police department’s Fourth District Station in Wheaton and reported the incident. The teen also underwent a sexual assault forensic examination at the Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, documents state.
Investigators were able to identify Erby as the suspect by searching for the phone number he used to text the victim in law enforcement databases, according to charging documents. Erby’s name and image appeared in the search, and he was also found on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry.
The victim positively identified Erby as the man who raped her, charging documents said.
Erby was arrested by police in Washington, D.C., and later extradited to the county. He has been held without bond since his arrest at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds, according to digital court records.
