A Baltimore detective accused of raping a 16-year-old suspect at a police station was released on bail Wednesday as his attorney disputed the charges against him as fodder in a political fight.
William Welch, 40, a detective with more than a decade in the department, faces second-degree rape and other charges stemming from the alleged attack during an interview. He has been suspended without pay, a police spokesman said.
“Loopholes” exist in the girl?s version of events that night, said defense attorney Warren Brown, noting that he?s confident the state?s case against Welch won?t hold up in court. Officers arrested the girl and discovered she was wanted on a Baltimore County prostitution charge, he said. Police were holding her at the Southeastern district station the night the alleged attack occurred.
Welch was alone with her for about five to seven minutes in a small room, Brown said, asking her for information on a different shooting case. The door was “always” open and a sergeant?s desk was a few feet away, he said.
Welch left her alone once it became clear she knew nothing about a shooting, Brown said. They talked again outside the station as she waited to be taken to Baltimore County, he said.
Police spokesman Donny Moses said it?s “normal for there to be more than one officer” in an interview with any suspect, but a female officer doesn?t have to be there if the suspect is female.
Welch?s case follows by several months similar charges against another police officer, Jemini Jones, who is accused of raping a suspect at the Southwestern district station in exchange for her release. Jones is scheduled for a court hearing on Aug. 30.
Investigators collected “body fluid” from the girl during a rape exam at Mercy Hospital, where the teen was taken after she told Baltimore County authorities she?d been attacked, Brown said. He said he didn?t know whether the fluid was semen or if it was linked to Welch.
Brown called the allegations “another dig at the police department [and] the mayor” from the State?s Attorney?s Office.
“An indictment is only an allegation and not proof of guilt,” said Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for the state?s attorney. She declined to comment further on the case.
Welch is pessimistic about his ability to salvage his career, Brown said, even if he is ultimately exonerated. “Just the allegation” is enough to ruin his credibility, he said.
Welch is scheduled for an arraignment in Baltimore Circuit Court on Sept. 15, according to the State?s Attorney?s Office.
