An evening of hard drinking turned violent Friday for a 16-year-old student at a Job Corps center in Baltimore County when she was found unconscious and raped by a 22-year-old peer in his dorm room, police said.
A staff member pushed his way into the room and struggled with the man, identified by police as Marquis Bridgewater of Miami, before the teenager was pulled free, according to court documents. Bridgewater was arrested on second-degree rape charges.
Drinking on campus is considered a “very serious infraction,” said David Miller, director of the Job Corps center, where students between 16 and 24 receive academic and vocational training. “We?re going to deal with all the students involved in this incident.”
The victim had no memory of the alleged attack, but she asked to go undergo a rape exam,according to court documents. The staff member saw Bridgewater holding the girl up from behind, with her underwear pulled down, the documents say.
Students undergo background checks before they?re admitted to the Job Corps program, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees it.
Police officers interviewed at least three other students who said they were with Bridgewater and the girl that evening, drinking Bacardi?s 151-proof rum out of a 16-ounce water bottle and dancing on campus, the documents say. Hours later, Bridgewater?s roommate found the teen passed out in a pile of vomit.
The roommate tried to convince Bridgewater to bring the girl back to her room, the documents say. A staff member conducting a nighttime check didn?t see the teen at first because she was propped against a pile of clothes near Bridgewater?s closet. Bridgewater told police that the victim was in his room, but denied touching her sexually.
Investigators brought the rape charges based on the staff member?s statements implicating Bridgewater, the witness accounts of the other students, and the results of the girl?s exam. “We are continuing to investigate just to verify and put the rest of the puzzle together,” spokesman Cpl. Michael Hill said.
