Sexual Assault

Reports of sexual assaults at the Naval Academy doubled last year, the fourth straight year the number has increased, according to the Defense Department. But do the findings of the Pentagon report on sexual harassment and assaults mean that such incidents are on the rise in Annapolis? Or do they show that midshipmen have grown more aware of sexual assault and are more likely to report it to authorities? Academy officials and critics alike hope it's the latter — but say it is impossible to know for certain.

The recent study estimating that there may have been 26,000 cases of sexual assault in the military last year stirred a lot of tough talk from the Pentagon and the White House over the past 24 hours. But the question is whether that outrage will translate into much-needed reforms within the armed forces. On that front, we have our doubts. The U.S. military's failure to adequately address sex crimes within its ranks is hardly a new problem, but the rise of such incidents - up from 19,000 in 2010 - is shocking.

After he was raped by a fellow Navy sailor, Brian Lewis wanted justice. What he got, the Baltimore man told a Senate panel Wednesday, was an order to keep quiet. When commanders learned of the attack, Lewis said, he was told not to report it to naval investigators. From his unit's lawyers, he said, there was "an eerie silence. " "At some point, it becomes about preservation of their own career, rather than helping me," the former Navy petty officer said. "There was no effective legal situation that I could access.

The following is compiled from local police reports. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have any information about these crimes, call the Wilkens Police Station at 410-887-0872. Songbird Circle and Park Avenue footpath, 9:15 a.m., March 14. Man walking on footpath robbed of cell phone, leather jacket, leather wallet and Nike shoes by man with a gun. Hollins Ferry Road, 3800 block, 8:49 a.m., March 14. Leaves set on fire and burned at Lansdowne High School baseball field dugout bench.

The recent study estimating that there may have been 26,000 cases of sexual assault in the military last year stirred a lot of tough talk from the Pentagon and the White House over the past 24 hours. But the question is whether that outrage will translate into much-needed reforms within the armed forces. On that front, we have our doubts. The U.S. military's failure to adequately address sex crimes within its ranks is hardly a new problem, but the rise of such incidents - up from 19,000 in 2010 - is shocking.

Detectives have begun reviewing rape reports summarily dismissed by Baltimore police over the past 18 months, though efforts to discern why incident reports were not taken in hundreds of 911 calls to police have sputtered. Because 911 calls are typically stored for no longer than 90 days, officials are struggling to find other possible documentation. "There's not much to review," said Elizabeth Embry of the mayor's office on criminal justice. Meanwhile, some experts have asked whether the Police Department should be reviewing its own mishandled cases.

Machele Fredericks had to face her attacker every day. She was in the Air Force. He was a fellow service member on the base. And he said that if she told anyone what he'd done, he'd kill her. "You didn't hear much of people getting raped in the military back then," Fredericks said. "At least I didn't. So, you know, it was like fear every day: 'I hope he's not at the gate today.' "I wouldn't dare tell no one. I didn't think anybody was going to believe me anyway. " She drank instead.

Intruder gets 10 years; his motive is in doubt An out-of-work carpenter was handed a 10-year prison term yesterday for forcing his way into the Odenton townhouse of a woman he had followed home and attacking her, but whether the crime was an attempted robbery or an attempted rape remained in dispute. The victim "was not in danger of any sexual assault," James E. Darnell, 28, of Jessup told Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Joseph P. Manck before he was sentenced. His lawyer said Darnell's crime was an attempted robbery by a man in financial crisis.

A Baltimore jury convicted Alvin Ray Wright Sr. Tuesday of grabbing a 13-year-old girl just a block from her home, throwing her into the basement of a vacant East Baltimore building and repeatedly raping her. "She thought she was going to die," Assistant State's Attorney Aaliyah Muhammad said during closing arguments. "He beat her into submission. " As the jury returned its guilty verdict on the first count, a faint, thin smile passed the lips of the girl. Her father hugged her tight.

A well-regarded Howard County nonprofit that is helping 88 clients deal with sexual assault and abuse has announced it will close Dec. 31 because of financial problems made worse by the recession. Lisa Bailey, board chairwoman of the Sexual Trauma Treatment, Advocacy and Recovery Center (or STTAR) for the past two years, said the 32-year-old organization's attempts to expand just as the recession was reaching its peak stretched finances too far. An office in Anne Arundel County closed this fall, she said, and offices in Montgomery County and Columbia will close by year's end. All the patients are being referred to private practitioners, including to some of the group's 15 employees who operate private practices.

After he was raped by a fellow Navy sailor, Brian Lewis wanted justice. What he got, the Baltimore man told a Senate panel Wednesday, was an order to keep quiet. When commanders learned of the attack, Lewis said, he was told not to report it to naval investigators. From his unit's lawyers, he said, there was "an eerie silence. " "At some point, it becomes about preservation of their own career, rather than helping me," the former Navy petty officer said. "There was no effective legal situation that I could access.

It's hard to fathom what it must have been like for Dez Wells to emerge from beneath the weight of public suspicion and step into a sold-out basketball arena again and hear cheers and balls bouncing and bands playing. Those who know the Maryland player's story - the infamous brawl during his freshman year at Xavier, the sexual assault allegation rejected by a prosecutor - understand why Wells seemed overcome as the sophomore transfer was introduced for the Terps ' season-opening game against Kentucky, leaning in and hugging his coach, Mark Turgeon.

The governor's bill to repeal Maryland's death penalty survived a key vote Friday in the state Senate. After an emotional debate, senators voted 27-19 to defeat an amendment that would have kept capital punishment for murders committed along with other serious crimes. "It's an excellent harbinger for us," said Sen. Jamie Raskin, the floor leader for the pro-repeal forces. After the vote, the Senate paused its debate on the bill, which if passed would make Maryland the 18th state to eliminate the death penalty.

A Baltimore jury convicted Alvin Ray Wright Sr. Tuesday of grabbing a 13-year-old girl just a block from her home, throwing her into the basement of a vacant East Baltimore building and repeatedly raping her. "She thought she was going to die," Assistant State's Attorney Aaliyah Muhammad said during closing arguments. "He beat her into submission. " As the jury returned its guilty verdict on the first count, a faint, thin smile passed the lips of the girl. Her father hugged her tight.

A former Naval Academy instructor who is accused of sexually assaulting a female midshipman will be court-martialed, an academy spokeswoman said Thursday. Marine Corps Maj. Mark A. Thompson, a former history instructor at the academy, is accused of assaulting the midshipman in his Annapolis apartment following the annual croquet match between the academy and St. John's College in 2011. Adm. Michael H. Miller, the academy's superintendent, referred the case to a general court-martial after reviewing information from a preliminary hearing that concluded this month in Washington, spokeswoman Jenny Erickson said.

Prosecutors announced Friday that charges will not be sought against 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a swanky downtown hotel. A statement released Friday by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said: "The San Francisco Police Department -- Special Victims Unit completed and submitted a thorough investigation of the allegations against Michael Crabtree. Following a review of all the evidence, my office has determined that no charges will be filed against Michael Crabtree at this time.

Anne Arundel County police are investigating a reported sexual assault of a girl at Annapolis High School by a fellow student Friday. Officers were called to the school on Riva Road at about 12:30 p.m. for a report of a sexual assault where the female juvenile student said she was sexually assaulted by a male juvenile student. Police said the students knew each other. Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Division's Sex Offense Unit are investigating. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Justin Widup at 410-222-3468.

A $278,000 grant was awarded to the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice to train city police detectives on sexual assault investigations, city officials announced Thursday. The Byrne Grant from the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention will fund training, as well as new case-management software, video recording equipment, a victims' advocate, outreach materials and biological evidence testing. "This grant will support a victim-centered approach that will allow us to better identify, apprehend and prosecute offenders," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement.

WEATHER: Snow possible, high near 45 . Howard and Anne Arundel counties are under a winter storm advisory beginning at 10 a.m. TRAFFIC: Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues. TOP NEWS Maryland budget reflects improving economy : Gov. Martin O'Malley released a $37 billion spending plan Wednesday that for the first time in recent years contains no drastic cuts or proposed tax increases. State scraps plans to build youth jail in Baltimore : After years of community opposition, state officials have abandoned plans to build a new Baltimore jail for juveniles charged as adults, unveiling Wednesday a plan to send more teens to treatment programs.

Rebecca Nagle and Hannah Brancato aren't interested in spilling Victoria's Secret. But the Baltimore-based artists and feminists do want the lingerie giant — and other cultural forces — to tell a different story about sex. Disturbed by societal messages about rape and consent, the pair have projected the words "Rape Is Rape" on the U.S. Capitol, joined in an art exhibit about sexual assault and created a line of underwear with messages emphasizing...