Sexual Assault

A trooper with 17 years service was arrested last night and charged with sexually assaulting a woman at his Eastern Shore home, said a state police spokesman. Tfc. Rupert W. Walters, 41, was arrested about 7 p.m. at home on Riverside Drive in Chester on Kent Island, Queen Anne's County, said Maj. Greg Shipley. Walters, who is assigned to the Annapolis barracks, was charged with raping a female acquaintance, Shipley said. He said the alleged victim, 34, told police that she and Walters had breakfast at his home yesterday and he asked her for sex. Shipley said she told police that when she refused, Walters forced her into a bedroom closet and raped her. After the alleged assault, Shipley said, the woman ran from the house and was followed by Walters, who drove her to work, where she called police.

Three Howard County police officers patrolled Lake Elkhorn yesterday morning, searching for clues to a sexual assault that happened Monday. Meanwhile, nearby residents expressed shock at the crime and tried to understand how it could have occurred in this quiet park that is a magnet for people in the village of Owen Brown.Police came to the Columbia park looking for someone who could identify or describe the assailant in the case. But after dozens of interviews yesterday morning, they had turned up only one lead.

The Howard County Sexual Assault Center has joined America's first nationwide toll-free hot line for victims of sexual assault: 1-800-656-HOPE.The number is operated by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a Washington-based nonprofit organization.When callers dial the toll-free number, they are connected to the nearest rape crisis center.

A 47-year-old Mount Airy man has been jailed on charges that he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl he was babysitting, according to court documents. Steven Richard Cramer of the 1000 block of Ridge Road was arrested at his home early Friday. Later that day, a District Court commissioner set bail at $25,000 on charges including third- and fourth-degree sexual offenses, abuse of a child in his care and second-degree assault. The girl's mother called the state police about 3 a.m. Friday, saying her daughter had alleged that she had been kissed and fondled as she slept.

A former Howard County police sergeant yesterday was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a 23-year-old college student in his cruiser last summer.Thomas M. Martin, 40, a 16-year veteran of the police force, was allowed to remain free on a $50,000 bond while he appeals his conviction.Judge James B. Dudley, who found Martin guilty on Dec. 9 ofsecond-degree sexual assault, imposed the minimum sentence allowed under state guidelines. He issued concurrent terms for Martin's convictions on two other sexual assault charges and assault and battery offenses.

Two teens implicated in an alleged sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl near Southwest Academy on Johnnycake Road have been located, Baltimore County police said yesterday. Police say they are trying to resolve the contradictions between the girl's and the teens' accounts of the incident. No charges have been filed, police said. On Friday, the girl told police that she was attacked as she was waiting for her mother to pick her up near Southwest Academy. She said two males approached her as she walked on Johnnycake Road near Marksworth Road and dragged her into bushes behind a house, where, she said, the attack occurred.

TC CURRENT volunteers' news and needs:Sexual Assault Center of Howard County in Columbia needs volunteers for its hot line and for help with victims of assault. A training session will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 at the center. Call for interview, 964-0504.The Hearing and Speech Agency wants used toys in good condition for its Parent-Infant-Toddler Program. Toys that make sounds are preferred. To donate toys, call K.C. Docie, 243-3800, or take them to 2220 St. Paul St.The Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks Office of Therapeutic Recreation Services needs volunteer assistant directors for the Musical Theatre Programs for intellectually limited young adults.

WESTMINSTER -- The state's attorney's office has hired two new investigators to help in the prosecution of child abuse and sexual assault cases.The new unit is considered among the first of its kind in Maryland, as only a handful of state's attorney's offices investigate child abuse and sexual assault directly.The two investigators began working last week. They are Ruth Ann Arty, who was a child abuse caseworker for the state Department of Social Services, and Kathleen Lynch, a recent graduate of Loyola College.

A Columbia woman who says she was sexually assaulted by an employee at Howard County General Hospital while she was a patient there has filed a $3 million suit against the hospital and the accused employee.The woman, who suffers from multiple personality disorder, alleges that Jeffrey R. Hensen touched her breasts and genital area while she was a patient in the hospital's psychiatric ward last June.Hensen, 22, of the 600 block of Old Liberty Road was charged criminally with first- and third-degree sex offenses and assault and battery in connection with the alleged incident.

An Ellicott City ballet teacher was found guilty yesterday of sexually assaulting one of his students during private lessons - his second conviction stemming from allegations that he abused three young dancers. Howard Circuit Judge James B. Dudley found Jose Anibal Macedo guilty of sexual child abuse and three counts of third-degree sexual offense in incidents involving a female student, who was 11 when the abuse began. The Sun does not name victims of sexual assault. "It's certainly comforting to know that this court, this judge, believed this child, who had to go through a very difficult process to reach some closure," prosecutor Mary Murphy said.