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December 24, 2009

Md. juvenile officials: Va. didn't tell us rape suspect was returning

News this morning on the story of the 19-year-old Baltimore man accused of three rapes, in Canton and the small Va. town of Kilmarnock. Police there have been saying all week that probation agents for Donald Vaughan had notified their Maryland counterparts that Vaughan, who was under police surveillance as a suspect in two attacks there, would be returning to Baltimore for Christmas. That outraged many readers, who said authorities shouldn't have taken their eyes off Vaughan and allowed him to move around. They also wondered what, if anything, Maryland officials did upon receiving that news.

Today, The Sun reports that juvenile officials strongly deny that they were informed of Vaughan's travel plans. Tammy Brown, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, said the notifications were not made and that caseworkers here only received an update on Vaughan after requesting it on Tuesday, a day after police say Vaughan confessed to all three attacks.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system

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About Peter Hermann

Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.

Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.

Contributing to this blog is Justin Fenton, who joined The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting. A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the City Paper in 2010 and by Baltimore Magazine in 2011.

Follow @phscoop, @justin_fenton on Twitter