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The parents of John Edison, Jr., protest their
son's incarceration outside a St. Mary's County
courthouse in August. Phote credit: The Enterprise.
No, not because it's written by me, but because it relates the story of how southern Maryland boy John Edison, Jr., is right now being held captive in a government cage on the flimsiest of charges that he violently raped a 12-year-old girl.
Forget the fact that the girl's friend initially accused Edison of raping her, then changed her story. Forget the fact that the 12-year-old's hospital report revealed NO signs of physical or sexual assault, and that she was still a virgin after this alleged crime took place. Forget the fact that Edison is being confined in an adult jail cell -- where's he's already been assaulted by other juveniles -- on nothing more than an accusation by a 12-year-old girl -- who's apparently out at all hours of the night hanging out with older boys.
The state of Maryland will just hold him without bail indefinitely while it gets around to setting trial dates and figuring out how it's going to charge this kid.
One note: The paper edited out my comments related to State's Attorney Richard Fritz's own rape trial when he was 18, where he pled guilty to having carnal knowledge of a 15-year-old girl.
I think it would be a mistake to assume Fritz's own demons aren't playing a role in his current treatment of John Edison, but whatever the case, it is appalling that this child is denied bail and relegated to imprisonment while his family and lawyer fight these charges -- especially when known sex offenders and other criminal recidivists are granted bail despite the existence of much more substantive evidence than is at hand in the Edison case.
I'm not going to beat around the bush here. John Edison and his family need your help. An innocent boy is behind bars and facing the full wrath of the state. You can write the state's attorney at richard.fritz@co.saint-marys.md.us or call his office at (301) 475-4590.
UPDATE (3:41 p.m.): I mentioned in a previous post that I would publish the 12-year-old girl's medical report once I received a copy from Edison's family. However, I've since learned that this is a sealed document that is not part of the public record. While the family of the accused has a right to request and obtain this information and essentially share it with anyone it chooses, it would be imprudent, if not altogether unethical and perhaps illegal, for me to do the same.
So, for anyone who may be wondering how I can make such absolute statements about this girl's medical exam yielding no signs of physical or sexual abuse (or even sexual activity, for that matter) without actually citing a published report, this is why.
