Guilty Verdict in Rape, Burglary Trial

A jury found a Baltimore man guilty of first-degree rape and burglary for breaking into home of a 13-year-old girl, binding her with duct tape and assaulting her.

Jurors began deliberating mid-morning Friday and arrived at a verdict around 1:15 pm.

The jury found Albert Antonio Jones Jr. not guilty of home invasion.

Jones’ defense attorney had asked jurors in his closing arguments to be skeptical of the teen’s story.

“Something happened that morning, but there’s nothing to show it happened the way she said it did,” Robert Smith said.

Smith pointed to a lack of DNA and fingerprints at the scene and inconsistencies in the girl’s testimony.

Prosecutor Stacy Amparo scoffed at the defense position.

“If a person is going to commit a crime as serious rape, they are going to do everything possible to make sure they don’t get caught,” she said, pointing out the intruder wore gloves during the attack.

The idea that the girl made up the story about being sexually assaulted is “ridiculous,” she said.

“Nobody comes in here in front of 14 total strangers, a courtroom full of people, and makes this up,” Amparo said. “Nobody goes for an intrusive [rape] exam and makes this up. There is zero reason for (her) to make this up.”