Man arrested in connection to sex abuse case involving his cousin in Easton
A man was arrested in connection to a sex abuse investigation, after police say he sexually assaulted his cousin beginning when she was 5-years-old. The victim reports that she lost her virginity in an assault around 11-years-old at her grandmother's house. Reader's discretion is advised as the details in this article are graphic.
The Easton Police Department says on December 7, officers arrested 25-year-old Ward Washington Jr., of Waldorf ,on charges including rape first and second degree, sex offense third and fourth degree, perverted practice and sex abuse of a minor. The arrest comes after an investigation began in November 2017 when detectives interviewed Washington's 19-year-old cousin, who said that he raped her in the summer of 2017.
According to District Court of Maryland documents, on November 17, the 19-year-old victim told her therapist that she fled her grandmother's Glenwood Avenue home, in Easton, after encountering Washington. The victim apparently told her therapist that when she was around 5-years-old, Washington begun touching her genitals. The victim says this happened multiple times until she was 11 or 12-years-old. Courts documents show that Washington then had sex (penile penetration) with the victim, causing her to lose her virginity. Washington was around 16-years-old at the time, and the incident happened when the two lived at the grandmother's home, in the 200 block of Glenwood Avenue, in Easton.
The victim reported that the sexual assaults went on until the summer of 2017. Authorities say the assaults happened at multiple locations including Glenwood Avenue, Easton,MD; Waldorf, MD; and Camp Springs, MD. According to court documents, the 19-year-old doesn't know the amount of times that sexual intercourse happened, but her best guess is more than 50 and less than 100 times.The victim told authorities that Washington also choked her during and after sex.
The victim describes one of the assaults in the court documents, saying that when she was 14 or 15-years-old Washington forced oral sex on her by sitting on her chest and putting his genitals in her mouth. The 19-year-old also reports that she has told her cousin in the past couple of years that she does not want to have sex with him.
