Baltimore County officials announced a series of reforms to the way sexual assaults are investigated and prosecuted, following a review of more than 100 reported rapes that had been classified as "unfounded."
The county’s focus on sexual assault comes as state lawmakers are considering bills that might make it easier to convict alleged rapists, and at a time when high-profile assault cases have drawn attention to the issue.
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, joined by interim police Chief Terry Sheridan and State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, announced that the county’s police officers will no longer be allowed to label a rape accusation as unfounded. Now, the state’s attorney’s office will make that determination.
In 2014, 34 percent of rape accusations in Baltimore County were deemed unfounded. The national average that year was 7 percent. A report that highlighted the county’s unfounded cases drew national attention and spurred Kamenetz to seek a review of the cases and the police department’s practices.
"While we disputed some of the allegations, we also used it as an opportunity for self reflection, to see how we could improve our investigatory process and frankly what we could do better in our police department," Kamenetz said.
Catherine Becket hadn’t forgotten that evening three years ago in her Parkville apartment, though she tried.
Then, as she watched with outrage while Stanford University student Brock Turner served three months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, she resolved to confront her own…
Catherine Becket hadn’t forgotten that evening three years ago in her Parkville apartment, though she tried.
Then, as she watched with outrage while Stanford University student Brock Turner served three months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, she resolved to confront her own…
The review by retired judge Barbara Kerr Howe and Lisae C. Jordan, director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, found that none of the 124 "unfounded" rapes in Baltimore County from the past three years should be moved forward for prosecution.
But they found the county could do a better job investigating and prosecuting rape and sexual assault cases. In addition to recommending that prosecutors make the determination of whether a case is unfounded, they also made several other suggestions:
•Sex crimes detectives should interview victims and suspects in sexual assault cases.
•Detectives should communicate better with prosecutors and document that communication.
•Police should track sexual assault complaints at residential facilities such as nursing homes, group homes and treatment centers.
•Police officers should receive additional training in dealing with individuals with mental illness or cognitive disabilities, interviewing victims of trauma and handling cases that involve intoxication.
"We embrace each of these recommendations," Kamenetz said. Some of the training and communication improvements already are under way.
Jordan said she was pleased the county is willing to make changes.
"It’s never easy to hear someone say, ‘Hey, you need to make some changes and things aren’t perfect,’ particularly on such a sensitive issue," Jordan said.
The county also is backing a state effort to clarify the legal definition of rape so that "force or threat of force" is not a requirement to charge a suspect with rape.
Jordan said that if the law was different, 30 to 40 percent of the 124 unfounded rape reports she reviewed might have qualified as cases that could be prosecuted.
Sen. Delores Kelley, of Baltimore County, and Del. Kathleen Dumais, of Montgomery County, are pushing a bill to change the legal definition of rape — an effort that was last attempted more than a decade ago.
Jordan said she believes the change has a better shot now that lawmakers are more concerned about sexual assault.
"I can’t tell you the number of both men and women who have said, ‘Wow, that can’t possibly be right. That shouldn’t be the law,’" Jordan said. "That’s not the reaction we got in 2005."
Kelley said the new definition would "bring Maryland out of the stone ages." She said there’s no requirement for robbery victims to show that they tried to fight off a robber, but rape victims must show they tried to fight back.
"You have the power to undo this wrong," she told her colleagues on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
The change in law would apply to second-degree rape. First-degree rape — which carries a longer sentence — must also include other factors such as the use of a weapon, seriously injuring the victim or kidnapping them.
Changing the definition of rape will not be easy. During 90 minutes of discussion during Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing on Wednesday afternoon, senators and advocates debated complex nuances of the law and hashed out the meanings of past court cases.
Sen. Bobby Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat who chairs the panel, said committee members agree in concept, but need to make sure that changing the law is the appropriate way to fix the problem.
Lawmakers are also considering a bill that would allow prosecutors, in certain circumstances, to introduce evidence in court that a defendant committed past sexual assaults. The bill has been championed by Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and introduced in past years by Sen. Jim Brochin, a Baltimore County Democrat. This year, the bill is part of Gov. Larry Hogan’s package of anti-crime bills.
Another bill under consideration would set standards for how long police departments must hold on to rape kits that have not been tested.
A report last year found that more than 3,500 untested rape kits are sitting in storage at police departments, for reasons including the victim declining to pursue charges, prosecutors declining to take the case or the victim and suspect knowing one another.
A bill sponsored by Zirkin and Del. Shelly Hettleman, a Baltimore County Democrat, would require that police departments keep rape kits for 20 years. Victims would be given written information about the testing and storage of rape kits, and could request to be notified when their rape kits are destroyed.
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