Family members and friends of John K. Edison Jr., 16 of Great Mills, stood outside Leonardtown Courthouse on Aug. 15 protesting Edison being charged with alleged rape. Some were holding signs that read, “We must protect our constitutional rights,” and “John Edison Jr. has been violated.”
Edison is being held in the Adult Detention Center in Leonardtown as a result of an arrest on July 5, involving an alleged rape of a 12 year-old girl. Edison’s case has been moved to the Circuit Court having been first placed on the District Court docjet. He is currently awaiting a trial date.
“The big question we are trying to ask is why,” Doris Milburn, Edison’s mother, said. “With the evidence that they had that came back to say that he didn’t do this, they should’ve said, ‘okay, we held this guy; he is innocent; we’re throwing it out.’”
According to Milburn, she is very frustrated because she does not see why her son is still being kept away and why he is being held in an adult facility at age 16. She said that the state’s attorney has denied him bonds, and the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department has not given her any information about further evidence or when he will be tried again.
“We don’t know what the hell is going on,” Milburn said. “The states attorney has not done anything but botch this up.”
Lieutenant Burris of the Bureau of Criminal Investigations explained that Edison’s attorney provided evidence that was found inaccurate. “Ultimately, we are putting our case together and awaiting a trial date,” Burris said.
According to Burris, Edison Jr. has been charged with second-degree rape, second-degree sex offence, fourth-degree sex offence and second-degree assault.
Milburn , along with others, has been in front of the court holding signs for the past two days. “They need to go ahead and admit that they made a mistake and release him,” she said. “They should’ve granted him a bond and did the investigation like they were supposed to do. You don’t hold somebody until you get the evidence.”
“I don’t know what their problem is, but they take a long time to do something,” she said. “I thought you were innocent until proven guilty, but i,n this case, he’s guilty ,and we’ve got to prove him innocent.”
According to Burris, the sheriff’s office is waiting on a trial date to be set.