UPDATE
On Thursday, May 18, 2023, Steven Jay Friedman, 40, of Forest Hill, Maryland was sentenced in the Circuit Court for Harford County following his January 30, 2023 convictions.
The Honorable Yolanda Curtin sentenced Freidman to thirty (30) years suspend all but eighteen (18) years to serve.
The breakdown of sentencing is reflected as follows:
-Rape 2nd – 20 years, suspend all but 18 years to serve
-Sex Offense 3rd Degree – 10 years, suspended, consecutive
-Providing Alcohol to a Minor – $1000 fine, suspended
Upon release, Friedman will be placed on 5 years of supervised probation with standard conditions, as well as the requirement that he submit to lifetime supervision as a sex offender and lifetime sex offender registration. As part of his probation, he is ordered to have no contact with the victim or her family, be subject to DNA testing and COMET supervision, sex offender treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy, abstinence from alcohol and drugs, drug testing, drug/alcohol treatment, and no unsupervised contact with minors.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Curtin thanked the victim for her strength and courage in testifying in the case and providing a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing.
After the sentence was handed down, State’s Attorney Alison Healey said, “I am very grateful that we were able to obtain justice for the victim in this case, who showed incredible resilience and bravery by facing her abuser not just at trial, but at the sentencing hearing as well. This offender is a danger to our community, and we are grateful that Judge Curtin’s sentence in this case will ensure that the citizens of our community are free from him for a long time and that he will be monitored extremely closely when he is eventually released.”
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On January 30, 2023, Steven Jay Friedman, 40, of Forest Hill, Maryland was convicted of Second Degree Rape, Sexual Offense in the Third Degree, Second Degree Assault, and Furnishing for or Allowing Underage Consumption following a bench trial in the Circuit Court for Harford County. The charges are the result of a Harford County Sheriff’s Office investigation, which found that Friedman lured a sixteen-year-old neighbor into his home and sexually assaulted her after providing her alcohol on February 18, 2022.
The victim testified during the trial before the Honorable Judge Yolanda L. Curtin that she regularly takes walks in the neighborhood and a resident, identified as Friedman, approached her at approximately 5:00 p.m., stating that he had been watching her take her walks and thought she was very attractive. Friedman invited the victim into his residence to provide her alcohol. While in the residence, Friedman reached under her shirt and bra and touched her breast. The victim testified that she was too intoxicated to say no. Friedman overcame her attempts to resist and performed oral sex on her while digitally penetrating her without her consent. During the incident, Friedman’s family came home, and Friedman interacted with them before escorting the victim out of the residence undetected. The victim preserved video evidence of Friedman providing her alcohol and confirming the sexual contact. Friedman was interviewed by members of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigative Division and admitted to providing the victim alcohol and to the sexual contact.
The Honorable Judge Curtin remanded Friedman to the custody of the Harford County Detention Center following his convictions. Friedman faces up to 20 years of incarceration. Sentencing will be scheduled following the completion of a Pre-Sentence Investigation.
State’s Attorney Alison M. Healey stated after the verdict was pronounced by the Court: “The conviction of Steven Friedman for this heinous and predatory crime gives the victim of this case closure to a difficult chapter that no individual deserves, and especially not a child. We will be seeking a maximum sentence to ensure this sexual predator is removed from our community for the protection of other children and our citizens. I commend the victim and her family for reporting the assault and for the bravery she exhibited by testifying at trial.”
Ms. Healey thanks Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew George for his hard work on this case for the last year and for taking the matter to trial to seek justice for this victim. Ms. Healey further thanks Deputy First Class Mansell, Detective Sergent, and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigative Division for their efforts in thoroughly investigating the case.