4 Maryland teens charged with rape in locker room assault

DAMASCUS, Md. – Police in Maryland say four teens were charged as adults with first-degree rape in connection with a junior varsity football hazing.

News outlets quote Montgomery County police as saying that 15-year-olds Jean Claude Abedi, Kristian Jamal Lee, Will Daniel Smith and Caleb Thorpe were arrested on the adult charges Wednesday. A fifth teen is charged as a juvenile with second-degree rape. Police did not release that teen’s name.

Police say the Damascus High School students attacked four boys in October in what the principal described as “an assault involving a broom.” The suspects and victims told police the assaults were part of a hazing ritual.

Abedi’s lawyer said he’d plead not guilty. Lawyers for Smith and Thorpe said the case should have remained in juvenile court. Lee’s attorney declined comment.