A 17-year-old Carroll County boy whose cows have won prizes at fairs across the state has been charged with raping a 9-year-old girl at the Maryland State Fairgrounds after police said a worried farmer tipped off the girl’s parents.
Jonathan Fleming has been charged as an adult with second-degree rape, second-degree sexual offense, perverted practice, fourth-degree sexual assault and second-degree assault. He is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $500,000 bond.
An investigation by the Crimes Against Children Unit alleges that Fleming has been sexually abusing the girl since she was about 3 years old. Police said the girl told officials that Fleming has forced her several times a year to engage in sex acts at different fairs in Maryland and elsewhere.
Police said that Fleming’s family and the girl’s family were together Thursday at the fairgrounds in Timonium, preparing for the Maryland State Fair. The girl told police that Fleming touched her inappropriately at the Cow Palace before moving to a more secluded area, including a trailer owned by the Fleming family, police said. The victim told police that Fleming forced her to perform various sex acts.
The Baltimore Sun does not name victims of sexual crimes.
The girl’s father notified police after being warned by a farmer who became concerned when he saw Fleming and the girl at the Swine Barn, police said. The investigation into the allegations of prior abuse is continuing. Additional charges are possible, police said.
No attorney is listed in court records for Fleming, and his family could not be reached for comment.
Fleming’s family, who live in Mount Airy, run a farm called Stone Ridge and are members of the Maryland Angus Association, an organization for breeders, according to its website.
Last year, Fleming was named one of the group’s outstanding junior members and in recent years he had won prizes for his cows at the Maryland State Fair, the Howard County fair and the Frederick County fair.
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