Former officer acquitted of sex abuse charges

By Matt Wickenheiser
Times Staff Writer

A jury acquitted a retired Maryland State Police sergeant on Thursday of charges that he sexually abused his girlfriend's young daughter.

The end of the Carroll County Circuit Court trial produced tears of happiness from the former officer's family members when the jury announced its verdict after just over an hour of deliberations.

"I just want to let it go," said the defendant as he walked away from the courtroom where he's spent the past three days. "I want to get on with my life."

The 56-year-old Taneytown man was accused by his girlfriend's daughter, now 13 years old, of fondling her from 1989 to 1993. He is not being named to protect the privacy of his accuser. He was cleared Thursday of child abuse, third- and fourth-degree sexual abuse and battery.

Before jury deliberations, several police officers were called to testify by defense attorney Anton Keating. Each told of the defendant's honesty and reputation in the law enforcement community. The defendant was the last witness to take the stand and closing arguments were heard afterward.

The former trooper spoke of his various assignments - the most notable being a successful 11-month infiltration of the "Pagan" motorcycle gang in the late 1970's. He was also the head of Maryland State Police Electronics Surveillance Unit from 1982 until June 1995.

"What happened in June of 1995?" Keating asked.

His voice cracking, the defendant paused before answering, "I was suspended."

Assistant State's Attorney Tracy Gilmore asked about the defendant's undercover work during cross examination. During the Pagan operation, he said, his cover was so tight that the FBI had to be told to stop an investigation on him.

In her closing arguments, Gilmore suggested that the defendant's undercover expertise made it possible for him to successfully deny allegations of abuse.

"The state's not saying to you that the defendant was a lair when he was undercover and that's bad. This is a man who can hide what he's doing," she said. "As a police officer, that's good. As it related to [the defendant] that's bad."

Gilmore said that the defendant's admitted intake of over five beers per day would lower his inhibitions. She said that's when the fondling would occur.

The 13-year-old's allegations weren't founded in vengeful fantasy, Gilmore said.

"If she was going to lie, she could have made it a whole lot worse," Gilmore said. "There's no revenge here that [the defendant] wanted to get against her mother."

Keating closed by stating that society has come full circle from ignoring child abuse to questioning the propriety of harmless hugs.

"There's a whole culture of investigators, counselors, prosecutors who put these rigid blinders on," Keating said.

The state's case had "gross inconsistencies" in it, with witnesses contradicting each other, he said. Keating also questioned why the charges were pressed in the first place.

"We shouldn't treat a criminal this way, let alone a man," Keating said. "And I offer to you if he hadn't been a police officer, he wouldn't have been charged."

"You can't right the wrong that was done to this very fine man," Keating said. "No matter what you do, his career is finished. He was ruined, and that's just plain wrong."

State's Attorney Jerry Barned said after the trial that the case had gone before a grand jury. Th e grand jury, Barnes said, deemed the case suitable to go to trial.

"It is then our obligation to proceed in cases such as this without the consideration of who a potential defendant is," said Barnes. "The reason for that rationale is that the law must be applied to everyone in an equal fashion in order to ensure trust and integrity in our system of justice."

Reprinted from the Carroll County Times November 17, 1995.