Teens face new charges in Damascus High assaults

Four Maryland teenagers accused of sexually assaulting football teammates in a locker room were indicted Thursday by a grand jury, with additional conspiracy charges that line up with prosecutors’ contention that the suspects acted together during the alleged broomstick attacks at Damascus High School. The suspects, all 15, had earlier been charged with five counts each: one count of firstdegree rape, three counts of attempted first-degree rape and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree rape. The indictments added three more conspiracy charges for each suspect, according to the Montgomery County state’s attorney’s office. The four suspects — Jean Claude Abedi, Kristian Jamal Lee, Will Smith and Caleb Thorpe — have all been charged as adults. They played on the junior varsity squad at Damascus, as did the four alleged victims in the case.