Marion Pearson. Photo courtesy MCSAO.
A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday to two sexual assaults that happened in 1981 in Wheaton.
Under a plea agreement, Marion Pearson, 67, faces up to 17 years of executed prison time, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office (MCSAO). He pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and second-degree sex assault.
The attacks on two victims happened in April and June of 1981, according to MCSAO. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19.
According to MCSAO, in 2022 county police detectives identified an open rape case from April 1981 and submitted evidence from the rape to the “Combined DNA Index System” (CODIS) for more testing. A search of the FBI’s national DNA system connected DNA to Pearson.
Pearson used to live in Prince George’s County and was arrested multiple times during the 80s and 90s for assault, indecent exposure, and peeping-tom, per MCSAO. In 2020, he was released from a North Carolina prison after serving 22 years for a series of first-degree rapes.
In a written statement, County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said, “After more than four decades the defendant is finally being held accountable for his violent actions in Montgomery County, MD. We thank the members of the Montgomery County Police Cold Case Unit for bringing closure to this case and hope the conviction can provide some comfort to the survivors of these crimes.”
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