Three men pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree rape of two runaway girls, 11 and 13, who had hidden in the Pasadena home of one of the men.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth set sentencing for Sept. 26.
Justin A. Wagner, 20, of the 1100 block of Wilson Road in Glen Burnie pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree rape.
William J. Young, 19, of the 1200 block of Wilson Road in Glen Burnie and John W. Persinger II, 20, of the 7700 block of Fox Court in Pasadena each pleaded guilty to one count.
Lesser charges were dropped, said Assistant State's Attorney Cynthia M. Ferris.
"The maximum sentence is 20 years. This is a major crime," she said.
Ferris said the 13-year-old girl decided to run away from home because she was suspended from school, and her 11-year-old friend agreed to go with her.
On April 15, they ran to Persinger's home, where they hid in his bedroom. Persinger's parents did not know the girls were there.
The next day, Ferris said, Young and Wagner came over.
The girls initially said they were raped, and charges of first-degree rape were filed.
Further investigation, however, indicated that the sex was consensual and that a teen-age boy who did not participate was there, Ferris said.
The men were indicted on the second-degree, or statutory, rape charges, reflecting the age of the girls.
The youth was not charged, Ferris said.
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