Baltimore County police have arrested a convicted sex offender on charges of raping a 12-year-old girl during a camping trip in the Essex area.
Keith Daniel Robinson, 22, of no fixed address, was arrested May 30 on a second-degree rape charge.
Police learned of the allegation after a teacher at the victim?s school overheard a conversation about the alleged rape between two classmates of the victim, according to police.
Detectives say a family friend allowed Robinson to take the 12-year-old girl and her siblings on a camping trip in the wooded area near Bengies Drive-In.
The girl told police that Robinson, also a family friend, asked her to have sex but after she twice refused, he took her away from her two siblings and raped her. The victim said she tried to resist but was held to the ground, according to police.
The girl told police Robinson threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
Robinson is charged with second-degree rape, second-degree child abuse and second-degree sex offense. He is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $500,000 bond.
Robinson, who is not currently listed on the state?s Sex Offender Registry, was convicted in 2005 of a third-degree sex offense involving a 13-year-old girl, police said. He was sentenced to three years of supervised probation, according to Baltimore County Circuit Court records.
In the 2005 case, prosecutors dropped other charges including second-degree rape and sexual abuse of a minor after Robinson agreed to plead guilty to the sex offense.
Prosecutors were forced to work for a plea deal because the victim didn?t want to testify.
“In many of these types of cases we have difficulties with witnesses,” Baltimore County Deputy State?s Attorney Leo Ryan said.
Baltimore County Police spokesman William Toohey said Robinson?s photo was taken off the state?s Sex Offender Registry after his arrest because he is incarcerated.
Police are asking other potential victims to contact the department?s Family Crimes Unit at 410-853-3650.
