The accusation was a bombshell: A Baltimore City teacher charged with sexually abusing three girls.
But two years later, not a single charge against Charles Carroll, 30, has stood up in court ? with prosecutors dropping the final 10 counts against him Tuesday.
“He just thanks God,” said Carroll?s attorney, Edward Smith. “He wants to go to church and he wants to have a life. That?s all anyone can hope for.”
Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for the Baltimore City State?s Attorney?s Office, said prosecutors decided to drop the final charges against Carroll after meeting with two of the alleged victims Friday.
“In the interest of justice, we weighed the trauma these young girls faced by having to testify and decided we should not proceed,” Burns said.
In August, a Baltimore jury acquitted Carroll, a teacher at an East Baltimore private school, of the most serious charge: Raping a 13-year-old student on the floor of his classroom.
During the trial, Carroll took the witness stand and denied the allegations made by the girl, who is now 15.
“I don?t know why she said those things,” Carroll testified.
Smith argued that the accuser was motivated by money ? and had filed a civil suit against Carroll and the school.
But the middle-schooler testified that Carroll abused her.
“I was very sad, depressed,” the girl said. “I was ashamed … and I didn?t want to live anymore.”
According to police charging documents, two other girls who were friends with the original accuser reported being groped and fondled by Carroll between December 2004 and April 2005. Those charges were dropped Tuesday.
“I?m sure the state believed what was presented to them,” Smith said of the way prosecutors pursued the case for two years. “They did their job. We had a job to do and we did our job.”
Christina Phillips Holtsclaw, principal of Community Initiatives Academy, publicly defended Carroll after his 2005 rape indictment, saying he deserved a “second chance.”
Carroll was convicted in 1995 of second-degree murder stemming from a fight.
He remains locked up pending a violation-of-parole hearing.
