Baltimore Police officer faces charges in assault, rape of 16-year-old girl

Racquel Bazos

The Baltimore Sun

July 2, 2025

A Baltimore Police officer was suspended and criminally charged after a 16-year-old girl he said he was “dating“ reported that he choked and raped her Monday.

Curlon Edwards, 34, faces rape and assault charges and is being held without bond. His bail review is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Edwards faces six charges in all, with false imprisonment and reckless endangerment in addition to the two assault and two rape charges. Edwards was hired in 2023 and has since been suspended without pay, according to Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Vernon Davis.

Police interviewed the victim while she was at Greater Baltimore Medical Center for evaluation. She reported that Edwards, whom she identified as her boyfriend, took her to his house on the 100 block of North Howard Street on Monday afternoon to hang out, according to charging documents.

They had sex, and Edwards asked her if she had been sleeping with anyone else. When she said no, Edwards accessed her phone using her face to unlock it via Face ID and went through it to find any “evidence of infidelity,” charging documents state.

She slapped him when he didn’t return her phone after multiple requests. He then put her in a chokehold. She bit his arm. He strangled her until she briefly lost consciousness. He then turned the television’s volume up to drown out the sound of her screams and locked the doors, chasing her around the house when she attempted to leave, according to the documents.

Edwards then handed her his handgun and told her to shoot him because he was afraid of what would happen if she reported the incident.

“She then took the gun with her hands shaking but she didn’t point the gun at him. He told her if she didn’t calm him down, he would kill her. So she attempted to console him,” the charging documents state.

Edwards took the gun back and told the victim he wanted to have sex. She feared for her life, “but she wanted to do anything to make it home,” the documents state. She told police they had sex again, but this time was not consensual.

After, Edwards drove them to Panda Express and Walmart in Rosedale. At the Walmart, he got concealer to cover up the marks left on her. The detective wrote in the charging documents he saw red bruises across the front of her neck.

The victim told her mother when she got home and they called the police. The victim told police Edwards definitely knew she was 16. The victim’s name was redacted from the charging documents, though The Baltimore Sun generally does not name sexual assault accusers.

During an interview with Edwards described in the charging documents, he admitted to dating the victim, choking her with his forearm and giving her his gun. He said the marks on the victim’s neck were from him choking her.

The victim underwent a sexual assault forensic exam at the hospital.

Edwards did not have an attorney listed on the Maryland Judiciary’s website as of late Tuesday afternoon.

“The Baltimore Police Department is currently investigating a BPD’s Officer’s involvement in alleged criminal misconduct. Due to the nature of the criminal charges, which include felonies, Officer Curlon Edwards was immediately suspended without pay. The Department’s Public Integrity Division will be working alongside the State’s Attorney’s Office on this ongoing investigation,” the police department said in a statement Tuesday.