Millersville Man Charged With Raping Boy Along Appalachian Trail

MILLERSVILLE, MD — A 43-year-old HIV-positive Millersville man has been charged with raping a boy on the Appalachian Trail in western Maryland. Jason Henry Cochrane faces charges of sex abuse of a minor, second-degree rape and other counts in Washington County.

Maryland Natural Resources Police said in court documents that officers were called Saturday morning to the Pine Knob Shelter on the Appalachian Trail near the border with Frederick County. Officers found Cochrane and an adolescent boy in a camping tent north of the shelter. In the tent were condoms and sex toys. Police told WBAL that DNA tests confirmed sexual contact and that Cochrane gave the boy crystal meth.

“While the juvenile was speaking with the officers, he was very responsive and compliant with the officers,” natural resources department spokeswoman Lauren Moses told WDVM.

Cochrane is being held without bail.