BALTIMORE — Michael Griffin was convicted on five counts of sexual abuse of a minor Tuesday. He faces 125 years in prison for sexually abusing his girlfriend’s adopted daughter for five years. Special Victims Unit Division Chief Anne Colt-Leitess prosecuted the case.
Tuesday’s conviction was a retrial in which the State obtained a 100-year sentence. Griffin was previously convicted in both 2002 and 2009 of committing second degree rape—one of which involved a preteen victim.
From WBAL: Between 2004 and 2009, from the time the victim was 13 years old until she was 17, Griffin, her adopted mother’s live-in boyfriend, repeatedly raped and molested her in their northeast Baltimore home, prosecutors said.
Griffin’s case is yet another unfortunate example of why legislation needs to be amended in Maryland to allow jurors to hear evidence, facts, and testimony regarding previous allegations of rape and molestation in subsequent sexual assault cases.
“People are in disbelief when I tell them that a serial rapist can stand trial for rape without ever having to disclose his or her status as a registered sex offender during the proceedings,” State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said. “It flies in the face of all logic that the State of Maryland would allow this to regularly take place in our courtrooms—especially when it causes such acute harm to survivors of rape and molestation.”
