Locker Room Rape Case: Third Teen To Be Tried As Juvenile

ROCKVILLE, MD — A third former Damascus High School football player accused as an adult of raping teammates with a broomstick will be tried in juvenile court, a judge ruled Thursday.

The 15-year-old Gaithersburg resident was one of four teens to be charged as an adult. The high schoolers face multiple counts of rape and attempted rape.

According to prosecutors, Jean Claude Abedi, Kristian Jamal Lee, Will Daniel Smith, and Caleb Thorpe turned off the lights, pushed or pinned down four of their teammates, and sexually assaulting them with a broom handle in a hazing ritual called "grooming."

To date, Abedi is charged as an adult, while the others have had their cases moved from adult court to the juvenile court system. A hearing to determine whether Abedi's case will be transferred back to the juvenile court system is scheduled for March 19.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Steven Salant decided Thursday to send Thorpe's case back to juvenile court, but said the offense he is accused of is serious.

"No one can deny that this is a serious offense and consequences are particularly harmful to the victims," Salant said.

When considering whether a child charged as an adult should, once again, be tried in juvenile court, the Department of Juvenile Services must take into account the following five factors: the defendant's age, mental/physical condition, amenability to treatment, risk to public safety, and the nature of the offense. The department is responsible for analyzing a defendant's case and recommending whether it should remain in the adult court system.

Based on Thorpe's age, risk to public safety, and amenability to treatment, the agency concluded that his case should be handled in juvenile court. As for his mental and physical condition, and the nature of the offense, the department recommended that Thorpe's case be handled in circuit court.

Ultimately, the Department of Juvenile Services recommended that Thorpe be tried as a juvenile. Salant sided with the department's recommendations.

"I think this was right decision by the state," said Shelly Brown, Thorpe's attorney. "The court is supposed to take an individual assessment of each defendant. They did that in my client's case. I think my client is feeling a sigh of relief because, obviously, this is a very serious charge."

Despite the court's decision, Brown said her client has a long road ahead of him.

"This isn't over," Brown said. "He's gonna suffer consequences, possibly suffer consequences in juvenile court."

Shifting to specifics of the "brooming" incident," Brown said the ritual of sexually assaulting or raping individuals with an object is nothing new and called on the Montgomery County school system to take action.

"This is something that has been going on for years at Damascus High School," Brown said. "And Montgomery County needs to take a stronger look at what's going on in their schools."

Before the junior varsity football team's last practice on Halloween, the accused teens picked four freshman teammates to assault with a broomstick, according to charging documents.

During Smith's hearing in February, the county's assistant prosecutor — Carlotta Woodward —said that the victims are still grappling with what happened to them on Oct. 31. Some are in therapy as a result.

Citing reports in court on Thursday, Salant said Thorpe was assaulted in a similar manner in ninth grade, but did not consider it sex abuse until recently.

Dr. Susan Lipkins, who wasn't in court, is a psychologist and an expert in the field of hazing. According to her findings, which Salant read in court, Thorpe and his friends were the victims freshman year. As sophomores, he and his teammates became the perpetrators.

In the report, Lipkins said victims commonly feel that they need to pass on what was brought on to them, thus the cycle of hazing continues.

Following Thorpe's hearing on Thursday, Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy called the assaults "violent sexual attacks against innocent and, generally, smaller, weaker" members of the team.

There were several key differences between Caleb and his former teammates' hearings.

Unlike last month's hearings for Smith and Lee, state prosecutors did not object to Thorpe's case being transferred back to juvenile court. McCarthy said the defendants are assessed as individuals, not as a group.

Salant is scheduled to decide Abedi's fate on March 19. McCarthy said the state intends to litigate the next case.

"There are distinguishing factors about the young man we're going to be dealing with next week that distinguish him from the young man that was here today," McCarthy said.

McCarthy did not elaborate further.