Officer accused in sex case is to resign

Prison term suspended in case involving girl, 16

While awaiting transfer to Baltimore County, Welch led the girl into an interview room in the Southeastern District station on Eastern Avenue. Alone with her, Welch flirted, confronted her about the marijuana he said he had found in her purse and told her that he could charge her with a crime, prosecutors said.

According to the victim's account outlined in court documents, Welch said the marijuana offense would disappear if the girl performed a sexual act. She didn't respond, according to court documents, and told him that she needed a way to dispose of the marijuana, which she said he helped her dump down a toilet in the station house.

When they returned to the interview room, according to court records, they had sex. The girl told authorities that she didn't express any objections.

"When it comes to putting a victim on the stand who is credible and can withstand cross-examination and impeachment, we have to have her say, `No, I did not want to have sex with him' -- that it was not consensual - in order to get the rape conviction," Burns said. "There can be no equivocation whether or not it was consensual."

The girl told Baltimore County police about the alleged encounter after she was taken there.

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