A 25-year-old Columbia man charged with raping a 12-year-old girl in the laundry room of a Columbia apartment building is set to appear in court Wednesday.
Fallah Johnson, of the 7300 block of Hickory Log Circle in Columbia, is scheduled for a pretrial motions hearing in Howard County Circuit Court, where he is charged with second-degree rape and assault and third- and fourth-degree sex offenses. During these hearings, admissible evidence and trial scheduling is usually determined, among other work in preparation for the trial.
On Jan. 7, the girl reported to her mother she had been raped earlier that day, which prompted the mother to call police, investigators said. Police charged Johnson in the alleged assault a day later.
The 12-year-old girl told investigators that she was washing clothes in the public laundry room of an apartment complex in the 5500 block of Harpers Farm Road in Columbia at about 5:30 p.m. when Johnson entered the laundry room, closed the door and raped her.
According to charging documents, the girl told police she was yelling for help and telling Johnson to stop, but he continued the assault.
The girl was evaluated at Howard County General Hospital and met with detectives, where an evaluation showed her injuries to be consistent with rape, charging documents state. A police examination of the laundry room also corroborated the girl?s version of events, police said.
Johnson is an acquaintance of the girl?s family, according to police. He is being held at the Howard County Detention Center.
At a glance
» In the first three months of 2006, 14 rapes have been reported to the Howard County police ? a 75 percent increase from the first three months of 2005, when the county saw eight rapes reported in the same time frame.
» Howard County had 42 reported rapes in 2005, 40 in 2004 and 44 in 2003.
Source: Howard County Police Department
