Montgomery Community Media

The recent Damascus High School assaults trained attention on the juvenile court. The boys charged in the case were first charged as adults, facing adult penalties, until their lawyers successfully petitioned to move their cases to the juvenile system. We talked with the Department of Juvenile Services to learn how the system for adjudicating youths […]

A judge ruled Thursday that the fourth defendant in an alleged sexual assault that occurred in Damascus High School will have his case moved to juvenile court. The public generally gets little information from the juvenile court system. On Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Steven G. Salant heard arguments on where the boy should be tried. […]

A third boy charged in the locker room rapes in Damascus High School will have his case moved to juvenile court, State’s Attorney John McCarthy said at a news conference Thursday. Maryland law requires some youths to be charged as adults depending on the nature of the crime. In this case, four boys were charged […]

A Montgomery County judge Tuesday signed an order sending one of the four defendants in the Damascus High School rape case back to juvenile court, his lawyer said. The other three defendants have hearings later this month and in March to decide whether their cases should be sent to juvenile court, according to online court […]

The four 15-year-olds who face rape charges for an incident at Damascus High School have been indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury, a spokesman for State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Friday. The four — Jean Claude Abedi and Will Smith, both of Clarksburg, Caleb Thorpe of Gaithersburg and Kristian Jamal Lee of Germantown — […]

A Montgomery County judge Monday reduced the bail of the four boys who face first-degree rape charges in the wake of a locker room incident on Halloween. The boys, all 15-year-old members of the Damascus High School junior varsity football team, had been held without bail after their arrests Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving. […]

Multiple brooms were discovered Sunday evening on and near the Damascus High School grounds, according to the principal. Principal Casey Crouse sent a letter to parents on Monday letting them know about the incident. According to the letter, the police were notified, and the brooms were removed Sunday. Both Montgomery County Public Schools staff members […]

Four of the five juveniles charged in the Damascus High School sexual assaults have been charged as adults, according to a Montgomery County police statement. The fifth juvenile remains charged as a juvenile. The four were arrested Wednesday morning with Montgomery County criminal warrants and taken to the county’s Central Processing Unit, police said. The […]

A Damascus parent told school Superintendent Jack Smith he was frustrated with his son’s high school principal Monday, saying she accused all the boys of the junior varsity football team, even though only five have been accused. The principal, Casey Crouse, has not addressed the parents, he said. “Certainly we will follow up on the […]

Damascus’ varsity football team maintained its winning streak last night, beating Century High School 42-3. The varsity team’s victory came as the school and the community dealt with the fallout from rape allegations involving the junior varsity team. During the day on Friday, the school received a “concerning call,” threatening administrators if the varsity game […]