Frederick – On December 20^th, the Frederick Grand Jury indicted Ernesto Cesar Torres, age 69, of Frederick on 98 counts of sex crimes charges. In a Circuit Court bond review this afternoon, Judge Theresa Adams ordered Torres held without bond. The 98 counts relate to allegations from an additional 19 victims. All of the victims were juveniles at the time of the alleged offenses. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for January 24^th at 9am.

Torres was sentenced December 23^rd to one year in the Frederick County Adult Detention Center for 4^th Degree Sex Offense. He is currently serving that sentence. On April 26^th, 2019, the 18-year old female victim, who was a lifelong patient of Dr. Torres, went to his office on Thomas Johnson Drive for a follow-up appointment to discuss her anxiety medication. It was during this appointment that the victim reported being sexually assaulted by Torres. Torres waived his right to a jury trial in late October. Judge William R. Nicklas Jr. presided over a three-day bench trial and ultimately on November 1^st, found Torres guilty of 2^nd Degree Assault and 4^th Degree Sex Offense. A 4^th Degree Sex Offense merges with 2^nd Degree Assault and therefore the maximum penalty in this case was a 1 year sentence. Torres will receive credit for time served on home detention since May 7^th.

Additionally, Torres is scheduled for a trial to begin March 30^th. In that case, a combined 49 sex crimes charges are alleged involving 12 victims.

An indictment is a charging document alleging criminal conduct. All defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Frederick – This morning, Frederick Circuit Court Judge Julia A. Martz-Fisher sentenced Rudolph Jericho Smith, age 37, of Frederick, MD to 30 years, suspending all but 9 years active in the Division of Corrections for assault and knowingly transferring HIV to three women. Upon release, he must serve 5 years of probation. Smith entered an Alford plea to 3 Counts of Second Degree Assault and 3 Counts of Knowingly Attempting to Transfer HIV on September 13, 2019. An Alford plea is a type of guilty plea, where the defendant does not formally admit guilt, but acknowledges that the State has sufficient evidence to convict them.

The Frederick Police Department began an investigation into Rudolph Smith during the summer of 2017, when separate women disclosed their belief that Rudolph Smith had infected them with HIV. Considerable time in the investigation was spent trying to determine whether or not Mr. Smith was HIV positive, and whether he was aware of that fact. It was eventually established that Rudolph Smith was aware that he was HIV-positive but continued to have unprotected sex with women without informing them of his status.

In response to today’s above the guidelines sentence, State’s Attorney Charlie Smith reacted, “While HIV is not what it was 15 years ago with effective treatments that now exist, these victims will be impacted by this defendant’s actions for the rest of their lives.”

The State was represented by Chief Counsel Joyce King and Assistant State’s Attorney Brett Engler.