Harford Chaplain Fired Amid Inappropriate Touching Allegations: Sheriff

BEL AIR, MD – A civilian employee with the Harford County Sheriff's Office has been fired after a grand jury indicted him on charges including a sex offense this week.

Rev. Kennis Andrew Rolle Sr., 59, of Middle River, worked at the Harford County Detention Center, where two women alleged he touched them during counseling sessions, according to the sheriff's office.

Rolle was indicted on Tuesday by a grand jury on the following charges: second-degree assault, fourth-degree sex offense and misconduct in office.

"I am deeply disappointed that someone who has been put in a position of confidence to assist people during vulnerable points of their lives, has violated that trust," Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said in a statement. "This type of behavior will not be tolerated in this agency.”

Rolle was suspended on March 8 after allegations of inappropriate touching were brought forward, and the sheriff's office and state's attorney's office reviewed the case.

"During the investigation, detectives identified two female victims, ages 31 and 26," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "Both women alleged that during scheduled and unscheduled counseling sessions, in the Chaplain’s Office, Rolle would touch them. This touching included unwanted and unwelcomed hugs, kisses on the forehead and cheek, playing with hair and touching of the buttocks on the outside of their clothing."

Rolle has been with the sheriff's office as a chaplain since September 2012. The inappropriate touching allegedly occurred in fall 2014 and between December 2015 and February.

After the indictment was handed down, Rolle turned himself in Wednesday, and he was released on $50,000 bond.

Anyone with information about the case or who may have been a victim can call Detective Christopher Maddox of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 443-409-3551.

Pictured, Rev. Kennis Rolle. Photo courtesy of the Harford County Sheriff's Office.