Charges dropped against security guard

Man was accused of posing as officer and raping woman

Charges were dismissed Wednesday against a University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center security guard accused of posing as a police officer and raping a woman.

Richard S. Barnes, 50, was charged with first- and second-degree rape in June after a woman told police she had been assaulted near Camden Yards by a man she believed was a police officer. The victim had told police that she had been assaulted twice that evening — first by a Lyft driver and then by the man who had appeared to be an officer.

The investigation into the case had prompted the Baltimore Police Department to pull 120 patrol vehicles off the street “out of an abundance of caution,” Commissioner Michael Harrison said when police identified Barnes as a suspect in June.

On Wednesday, a prosecutor said in court that a grand jury “refused” to indict Barnes.

The state’s attorney office said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun that prosecutors respected the grand jury’s decision as “part of the criminal justice

process.”

“The Baltimore Police Department appropriately pursued charges against Mr. Barnes based on the belief that there was sufficient evidence to do so,” spokeswoman Melba Saunders said. “However, the grand jury reviewed that same evidence and chose not to indict the defendant, which required that we dismiss the case.”

Barnes’ attorney, James Rhodes, said his client should not have been charged and asserted the sexual relations between the two were consensual.

“This clearly was a case where a young lady made some decisions that she later regretted,” he said outside the courthouse. “And for whatever reason (she) chose to make up a story about a rape and sexual allegations that occurred with two different men.”

Rhodes said he and his client may pursue charges against the woman who accused Barnes.

The Baltimore Sun does not identify victims who allege sexual assault.

Defense attorney Andy Alperstein, who is not involved in the case, said it is extremely rare for a grand jury to not issue an indictment because the process relies entirely on the prosecution, with the defense having no chance to present its side.

“Obviously, the state thought there was enough evidence,” he said. “They wouldn’t have presented it if they thought there wasn’t enough evidence. That would be unethical.”

But when the grand jury doesn’t indict a person, it can leave even more questions than before, said Alperstein. Because what happens inside a grand jury room is kept secret, only the prosecutor, jurors and witnesses inside the room know what was said. That raises transparency issues, he said, especially in cases where there is greater public concern.

“It’s particularly concerning when there is an allegation of something so scary, when somebody in an apparent position of authority (as a security guard) is victimizing women sexually,” said Alperstein.

But ultimately, Alperstein said, jurors aren’t looking to let a potential sex offender off the hook if enough evidence was there.

The victim reported that she was near the Charles Village Pub when she met a man named “Rick,” who appeared to be a police officer, according to an internal police memo previously obtained by The Baltimore Sun. She reported the man took her to a residential area near Camden Yards — she didn’t have an exact location — and forced her to have sex before dropping her back in the Charles Village area, the memo said. The woman later went to an area hospital to report the incident.

Police identified Barnes as a suspect after reviewing hundreds of hours of CCTV and private camera footage from the area and searching Maryland Motor Vehicle records, which had connected his vehicle to the scene, the department said.

Barnes has been suspended without pay from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, pending the outcome of the investigation. The hospital declined to comment Wednesday afternoon about the case or whether Barnes will return to his previous role.

In a statement of probable cause against Barnes, police wrote that the victim also told investigators she had been sexually assaulted by a Lyft driver just before Barnes approached the Lyft driver’s vehicle, interrupting the assault.

The victim told police the Lyft driver began to touch her and digitally penetrated her, according to the documents. He then parked the car in an alley in the 3100 block of St. Paul St. and pulled the victim on top of him inside the car, she told police.

According to the charging document, Barnes approached the vehicle, and the victim got out and got into Barnes’ car and rode with him to the unidentified location where she told police he forced her to have sex with him.

Police have not charged the Lyft driver. Jacqueline Robarge, head of Power Inside, a nonprofit that provides services to women who have been victims of assault, said that while the grand jury’s decision was upsetting to her, it’s not surprising.

Robarge said it contradicts the culture today where people encourage one another to report sex crimes but then victims never see justice. She’s especially concerned about the message it sends victims because it stifles their voice and encourages them to not report sexual crimes.

“There is no accountability and isn’t that how it always goes?” she said. “I don’t know why it all boils down to the same outcome but here we are.”