An Olney man charged with luring a 14-year-old girl into the woods and sexually assaulting her was well known to neighbors and police. He has a long history of arrests and failures to appear in court.
Joshua Black, 31, is held without bond in connection with the July 20 incident in which he allegedly lured a young female into a wooded area in the 17700 block of Prince Philip Drive in Olney and then sexually assaulted her.
He will have a preliminary hearing Aug. 18 in Montgomery County District Court. If found guilty of three counts of rape in the second degree and three counts of sexual offenses in the third degree, Black could spend 20 years in prison.
Neighbors have long complained about Black’s harassment and sexual offenses in the Olney area and neighboring towns and counties. He has been ordered to appear in district courts in Rockville, Silver Spring, Hyattsville, Annapolis and Towson.
The 13-year-old daughter of Montgomery County Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Earl Stoddard recently spent time with friends at a pool in Lake Hallowell near where her family lives and where Stoddard’s wife is president of the homeowner’s association.
“She was among several teen girls,” when one of her friends saw Black gratifying himself while covered with a towel, Stoddard told MCM. Stoddard’s daughter’s friend pointed the incident out to the group.
“He was covered by a towel, but they all knew,” Stoddard said.
Parents contacted Montgomery County Police. “The police came out. They knew Mr. Black very well,” Stoddard said.
Those involved were told that because Black did not expose himself to the teenagers, there was little they could do. As a result, Stoddard’s wife, the police officer and Black signed a no trespassing order prohibiting him from returning to the pool for one year.
Stoddard later learned for the past eight years, Black received multiple no trespassing orders, including at Harris Teeters and Panera Bread. “He had so many peace orders, no contact orders, no trespassing.”
Stoddard criticized the judiciary, noting if efforts had been made to rehabilitate Black earlier, the young girl may not have been sexually assaulted.
“Overall, it’s incredibly frustrating. So many had the opportunity to intervene before we got to the rape of a 14-year-old.” Stoddard said. “There was no rehabilitation in any of the previous cases.”
Stoddard said he doesn’t believe locking people up for minor offenses is necessarily the way to go, but when those offenses continue year after year, then more should have been done. “You’ve got to make the community safe.”
Stoddard hopes Black faces consequences and also “gets the treatment he so obviously needs.”
Police believe Black may have been involved in other incidents and urge possible victims to come forward. Stoddard agreed, adding, “I encourage area parents to talk to their children and come forward.”
I do not often comment on individual crimes, but as an Olney resident who walks daily in the area of this particular crime, who has seen this suspect walking and biking dozens of times (as recently as yesterday AM), and who is well aware of his criminal history… (1/2) https://t.co/Wl08e1div9
— Earl Stoddard PhD, MPH, CEM (@EarlStoddard) July 21, 2023
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