Alleged Rape Involves Resident Facing Prison On Similar Charge

OCEAN CITY - Two Ocean City men, one of whom has a sentencing hearing scheduled on Monday in Worcester County Circuit Court for a conviction on an assault charge in the resort last summer, were arrested this week after allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl at a resort party early Tuesday morning.

Ocean City Police this week arrested Senay Haile, 25, and Semeredin Bederu, 24, both of whom have Ocean City addresses, on second-degree rape and second-degree assault charges for an alleged attack on a 17-year-old girl from Cumberland in western Maryland which began with a chance meeting on the Boardwalk on Monday night.

The alleged sexual assault on Tuesday came less than one week before Bederu is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on similar charges in Ocean City last June. Bederu was convicted in December on assault and burglary charges for an attack on a group of girls in Ocean City last June and has a sentencing hearing scheduled on Monday for that conviction which could land him in jail for as many as 10 years.

In the incident this week, the intoxicated victim was walking on the Boardwalk late Monday night when she was approached by a group of men near 6^th Street. She continued to party with the four men at an apartment near 6^th Street and the party later moved to an apartment at Jocelyn Manner on 8^th Street.

According to police reports, the victim eventually passed out and was placed in a bedroom in the apartment. It was then, according to witnesses, that Bederu went into the bedroom and had intercourse with the passed out victim. During the night, the victim became ill and started to vomit and she was moved to a sofa in the living room.

Around 8 a.m., Haile tried to have intercourse with the still passed out victim who suddenly awoke and began screaming. She then fled the apartment and returned later with a group of male friends to confront her assailants. Shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, resort police were called to a disturbance at the apartment where the victim's friends were confronting her assailants.

When police arrived, the victim told them about the attempted rape by Haile, but it wasn't until detectives interviewed witnesses at the party that they found out about Bederu's sexual assault on the victim hours earlier. The victim was not even aware of the sexual assault on her by Bederu, according to police.

Bederu and Haile were arrested and charged with second-degree rape and second-degree assault. Both are currently being held at the Worcester County Jail on $100,000 bonds.

Tuesday's alleged rape of the 17-year-old victim continues a pattern of assault and abuse carried out by Bederu in the resort. Last June, Ocean City Police responded to an apartment on 4^th Street for a reported breaking and entering. Upon arrival, the officers learned a group of female victims had gotten off a bus near their apartment when they were confronted by a man later identified as Bederu.

One of the victims told police Bederu grabbed her arm and told her to come with him, but when she rebuffed his advances, he threw a Gatorade bottle at her and hit her in the head. A male friend intervened and told the girls to run to their apartment and lock the door. Bederu chased the girls, but they were able to get inside and lock the door. When Bederu crashed through the glass front door, the girls retreated to a bedroom and locked themselves in.

After several unsuccessful attempts to break into the bedroom, Bederu gave up and left the apartment, but not before dumping a two-liter soft drink bottle all over the kitchen floor. The police soon arrived and found Bederu staggering down the street intoxicated. He was arrested and charged with assault, burglary and malicious destruction.