WEEK IN REVIEW

The Baltimore Sun

Anne Arundel

Officer admits fondling teen driver

A rookie Anne Arundel County police officer was stripped of his badge and sentenced to six days in jail yesterday after he admitted taking a picture of himself fondling a teenager's breasts during a traffic stop.

Joseph Francis Mosmiller, 23, pleaded guilty to misconduct in office for the January offense and apologized. "I made a mistake and I'm ready to accept the consequences of my actions," he said.

He will serve 30 days under house arrest and, under the terms of the plea deal, must cooperate with an internal affairs investigation. Other charges, including fourth-degree sex offense, were dropped.

In a tearful statement read to Judge William C. Mulford, the teenager, now 19, said Mosmiller's actions caused psychological damage, made her afraid of police officers, and strained her relationships with family and friends.

"I am worried that they will judge me. ... I don't know if I can ever return and have a normal life," she said.

Maryland section, Saturday

Edgewater

Teacher-coach charged in sex abuse

A former Anne Arundel County teacher and assistant football coach has been charged with fondling a female student in his classroom and sending her explicit e-mails.

Christopher Thomas Newman, 31, described on the South River High School football team's Web page as a married father of two young children, is alleged to have used the name of a character from the movie Fight Club to share fantasies and told the 16-year-old girl, "I think I crossed the line, but I like it," according to police.

He surrendered to county police July 12. He was charged with two counts of sex abuse of a minor and two counts of fourth-degree sex offense, according to charging documents. He denied wrongdoing when interviewed by police, charging documents show, and was released on bail.

Newman, who was hired in 2005 as a career counselor and taught classes to get struggling students on a college track, was reassigned when the allegations emerged in March, said Bob Mosier, a county schools spokesman. He worked in a school district warehouse until his teaching contract was severed June 15.

Maryland section, Thursday

Anne Arundel

Bill would relax police work rules

County Executive John R. Leopold has announced that he will introduce emergency legislation to lift a ban prohibiting police officers from taking second jobs at bingo parlors and businesses that serve alcohol.

The move comes about two weeks after a veteran of the county Police Department sued to block an order issued by Chief James Teare Sr., which was based on a county's ethics commission opinion that off-duty jobs at businesses that serve alcohol presented a conflict of interest. Teare rescinded the ban pending the outcome of the case.

"Secondary employment by police officers not only provides much-needed supplemental income, but also increases police presence in the community to help deter crime," Leopold said Tuesday in a written statement.

The president of the county's Fraternal Order of Police lodge applauded Leopold's move, which would not only allow officers to continue working jobs at restaurants and other entertainment venues with liquor licenses, but also ends a 2004 ban on employment at bingo parlors.

Anne Arundel section, Wednesday

Anne Arundel

Man ordered to pay in takeout stabbing

A 32-year-old Reisterstown man who stabbed a customer he claimed pushed ahead of him in a crab cake takeout line was ordered yesterday to pay $25,000 restitution but will serve no jail time.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Michele D. Jaklitsch suspended a 10-year prison sentence for Keith Anthony Rantin Jr., of the 300 block of Norgulf Road and sentenced him to five years' probation. She said she feared the victim would receive no compensation if Rantin served prison time. "I think that it is important for the victim to get his money rather than wait seven to 10 years when he gets out," Jaklitsch said. "He may never get his money."

Rantin declined to speak in court Wednesday, but pleaded guilty to first-degree assault against Jeffrey Rites, 39, of Violetville. Rantin's plea followed a trial in March that ended with a hung jury.

Yesterday, Assistant State's Attorney Michael Dunty recounted how a fight broke out during the lunch rush March 28 last year at G&M; Restaurant and Lounge after a cashier asked who was next in line for crab cakes.

Maryland section, Thursday

Annapolis

Damaged cables slow down courts

Court employees across the state hand-wrote warrant, bail and case data all day Wednesday - an unwelcome blast from the past thanks to damaged Verizon cables in Annapolis that shut down the Maryland judiciary's computer system.

The cables affecting the court system were repaired that evening, but cables providing phone service to about 6,300 businesses and homes in Annapolis and Parole were expected to take days more, a Verizon spokeswoman said.

Affected businesses and offices along Jennifer Road included the county jail and the county school system.

Maryland section, Thursday

Annapolis

Bag ban elicits praise and boos

Environmentalists and business owners packed the Annapolis city council chambers to tell their sides on a proposed citywide ban on plastic bags at a public hearing, with grocery chains also weighing in on an issue that would change the way they do business.

Under the legislation sponsored by Alderman Samuel E. Shropshire, all retailers and restaurants would have to provide recyclable paper bags or reusable bags or be fined up to $500.

The aim of the bill is to protect the environment, particularly the Chesapeake Bay, and to curb consumption, said Shropshire, a Ward 7 Democrat.

But many business owners said Monday that switching to paper bags would be a burden because the cost of paper bags is as much as four times that of the plastic equivalent.

Grocery chains Safeway and Giant have lined up against the bill, as well as the Maryland Restaurant Association and the Maryland Retailers Association.

Maryland section, Tuesday

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