MARYLAND
The Daily Record
A Baltimore County judge yesterday refused to throw out a sexual abuse indictment against a priest. The Rev. Jerome F. Toohey Jr. is accused of repeatedly abusing a teen-age boy at Calvert Hall College High School in the 1980s. Defense attorney Andrew Graham asked Circuit Court Judge Ruth A. Jakubowski to dismiss the indictment because the charging documents did not give exact dates and places for the alleged abuse and gave several standard options for Toohey’s relationship to the accused, not specifying which was accurate. After recessing to read case law on the subject, Jakubowski decided that Toohey’s problems with the indictment are “grammatical,” not substantial, and agreed to let the state clarify the charging documents.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is promising to restore some of the correctional officer jobs his administration cut in Western Maryland. Staff reductions at the three medium-security prisons south of Hagerstown since 2002 totaled 224, The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail reported Sunday, citing Division of Correction figures. Ehrlich told the newspaper that the cuts reflected the state's financial difficulties. He said that since Maryland ended the 2005 fiscal year with a $1.2 billion surplus, “I believe you'll see an increase with respect to this particular employee field this year.” Correctional officers and their union leaders contend the staff cuts have compromised safety at the institutions.