Police: Cecil County's Top Prosecutor Arrested In Ocean City
OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) -- Police say Cecil County's top prosecutor was arrested in Ocean City after officers responded to a report of a nude man on a hotel balcony.
Police said in a statement that officers responding to a report of a nude man on a balcony at the Clarion Hotel on Wednesday took Edward Rollins III of North East into custody "for disorderly conduct and indecent exposure." Rollins is the state's attorney for Cecil County.
Police say officers consulted with Worcester County State's Attorney Beau Oglesby and were advised to release Rollins without charges pending further investigation. Oglesby told The Baltimore Sun on Saturday that his office was determining what charges might be issued.
On Sunday, Rollins' wife, Holly Rollins, issued a statement to the Cecil Whig on behalf of her husband, who declined to comment because he is the subject of the investigation.
Holly Rollins did so to address "inaccuracies" in media accounts, she said. The statement indicates that someone at an adjacent hotel spied upon them through the window of their guest room at the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel at 10100 Coastal Highway during a 24-hour period, from Tuesday through Wednesday.
"While my husband and I were vacationing in Ocean City last week, a stranger watched and photographed us through the window of our 10th floor hotel room. The person who took these actions was in a separate hotel some distance from ours. During the next 24 hours, while completely within the confines of our room, our intimate movements and activities were documented and shared publicly," Holly Rollins' statement reads.
On Monday the State's Attorney for Worcester County, Beau Oglesby announced that charges would instead be filed against Rollins.
"After consultation with the Ocean City Police Department, two counts of indecent exposure and two counts of disorderly conduct have been filed,"said Oglesby. "After carefully considering which course of action would be the most appropriate given the need to handle this matter with transparency balanced against the desire to shield the identities of the victims, filing a criminal information achieved both of those goals."
Indecent exposure is a misdemeanor and carries the possibility of three years behind bars and or a $1,000 fine. Disorderly conduct is also a misdemeanor and carries a possibility of 60 days behind bars and or a $500 fine.
(Copyright 2016 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)