The chief executive of a faith-based mentoring program was released on bail Friday after being charged with raping a 15-year-old girl who is a client of the organization, Baltimore police said.
Douglas A. Hicks-Bey, 48, who runs B-Moor Youth Services, was charged with rape, child abuse, assault, perverted practice and other sex offenses in connection with incidents that police said took place in his home in the 4000 block of Edgewood Road in Northwest Baltimore.
Hicks-Bey was released on $175,000 bail, with instructions to appear in Baltimore District Court for a preliminary hearing Feb. 8.
Court documents indicate that the incidents with the girl took place between Jan. 1 and Tuesday. Hicks-Bey was arrested the next day.
A woman who answered the telephone Friday afternoon at B-Moor Youth Services, which is at 1601 Pennsylvania Ave. in Baltimore, said Hicks-Bey was "on indefinite leave" and could not be reached. When asked whether his absence was connected to his arrest, the woman hung up.
The organization's website, which refers to its chief executive as Brother D. Hicks-Bey, says that a "certified mentoring program" oversees the counseling of youths 7 to 21 years old from "diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, incomes, education levels and lifestyles." Referring to the organization by the acronym BMYS, the site says a wide range of services are provided, including addiction counseling, parenting skills, job training and "family assistance."
"BMYS places its youth in constructive and interactive relationships with their peers in the effort of promoting positive reinforcement that would deter negative influences in their lives," says the site, which describes B-Moor Youth Services as a chapter of the National Youth Ministries Alliance. The site describes a mentor as "a guide, a trusted friend."
The site lists among the organization's "supporters and contributors" the social services departments of Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Prince George's County. A spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, Anthony Guglielmi, noted that BMYS is not a city-run program.
Court records show that Hicks-Bey has an arrest record in previous cases, including one in 1995 in which he was charged with kidnapping a minor, reckless endangerment, concealing a dangerous weapon, assault and false imprisonment.
That case — in which he was known as Douglas Hicks — involved 20 counts, but none resulted in findings of guilt. The case was placed on the "stet" docket, meaning that if the defendant stayed out of trouble for a year the charges would likely not be prosecuted further.
In a 1993 case, Hicks-Bey was charged with perverted practice and two counts of having sex with a minor, and spent six days in jail before being released. He ultimately was found not guilty of the two sex charges, and the perverted practice count was not prosecuted, court records show.
Battery and weapons charges against Hicks-Bey in 1994 and 1996 were either placed on stet dockets or not prosecuted.
Baltimore Sun reporter Peter Hermann contributed to this article.