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Blue State Failure: MD Child Rapist Goes Free Because Court Can't Find Interpreter


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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290300,00.html

 

Alleged Child Rapist Goes Free Because Court Can't Find Interpreter

Sunday, July 22, 2007

 

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Charges against a man accused of repeatedly raping and

molesting a 7-year-old girl were dismissed last week because the court could

not find an interpreter fluent in the suspect's native West African

language.

 

Mahamu Kanneh, a Liberian native who received asylum in this country and

attended high school and community college here, according to The Washington

Post, was denied a speedy trial after three years awaiting a court-appointed

interpreter who could speak the tribal language of Vai.

 

A court-ordered psychiatrist determined that Kanneh, despite his functional

facility with English - he originally spoke with detectives in English, The

Post reports, needed to have Vai spoken in order to understand the

proceedings against him.

 

Loretta Knight, a clerk with the court system in Montgomery County, Md.,

said she had been unable to find an interpreter to stay on the case, even

after an exhaustive search that included the Liberian Embassy and courts in

47 states.

 

Judge Katherine Savage called her decision to dismiss the charges one of the

most difficult she's had to make in a long time, especially since she was

aware of "the gravity of this case and the community's concern about

offenses of this type."

 

Prosecutors can't refile the charges but are considering whether to appeal

the judge's ruling for the dismissal.

 

FOX News spoke with a man who claimed to be Kanneh in a five-minute phone

conversation on Sunday in English. He said the allegations against him were

false and the dismissal of the charges was "a good thing." Asked if the

accusations were true, he responded, "I said what I had to say" and hung up.

 

The Washington Post wrote in its article that in just one night reporters

were independently able to identify three Vai translators available to

assist in the case. It noted that the need for interpreters has risen

starkly in Montgomery County, Md., with the court system spending $1 million

in interpreters in 2006, or 10 times the amount it spent in 2000.

 

According to witnesses who originally reported the case to authorities,

Kanneh allegedly repeatedly raped and sexually molested the girl, a

relative. In a statement made by the girl to police, she said she had been

told she'd be forced to stay in the apartment unless she had sex with

Kanneh.

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