Baltimore County, MD, Firefighter Charged after Allegedly Groping Woman
Baltimore Sun
(TNS)
A volunteer firefighter in Baltimore County accused of groping one of his colleagues at a Randallstown station and watching her take a shower was released from jail Tuesday.
Xavier Dove was arrested and charged Friday with four misdemeanors: fourth-degree sex offense, second-degree assault, Peeping Tom and private place-prurient intent — a charge that typically pertains to observing or recording someone in a private place for sexual gratification.
Police say Dove, a full-time firefighter in Howard County who turned 27 on Sunday, slipped into a female colleague’s bed in the early hours of May 2 and began touching her. Although the victim did not report being penetrated, she told authorities that she had to swat Dove’s hand away “several times” from her lower body, according to charging documents.
Later that morning, when the woman was taking a shower, she allegedly saw Dove “staring at her while she was naked” through clear curtains — an allegation corroborated in charging papers by another witness.
During a brief bail review Tuesday afternoon, Dove’s defense lawyer Stephen Tully told the court that while the allegations are “accurate” at face value, “what was left out” was the consensual relationship that Dove and his accuser had engaged in for months.
When Baltimore County District Judge Keith Pion ordered the firefighter to be released on recognizance, about 10 of the defendant’s family members cried out, hugged and thanked the judge.
Dawn Smith, Dove’s great aunt, told reporters that her nephew is a “good boy,” and that if she felt he had done something wrong, she would not be standing with him.
“You don’t tarnish no one’s name when you were in a relationship. … Right is right. Wrong is wrong,” she said. “You don’t do that to people.”
According to charging papers, county police officers were dispatched to the Liberty Road Volunteer Fire Company station in Randallstown on May 5, three days after the alleged assault took place.
The woman gave her account of what happened in the bunking area, police said, telling them that she “was in shock about what happened.”
After speaking with the alleged victim and the witness, authorities said they reviewed security camera footage inside the station and verified that the three people — Dove, the accuser and the witness — were each in the bunking area at the time of the alleged crimes. However, investigators said there are no cameras inside the room.
On Tuesday, in defense of his client’s character, Tully told the judge that Dove not only works and volunteers as a firefighter, but serves in the military reserves, as well.
Salary data obtained through a Maryland Public Information Act request show that Dove was hired as a career firefighter by the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services in 2022.
In a statement Tuesday, the department’s fire chief, Louis Winston, said that Dove is on leave.
At the time of Dove’s arrest, Bernard Jones, chief of the Liberty Road Volunteer Fire Company, told The Baltimore Sun that allegations of “inappropriate conduct” came to light earlier this month.
Jones said the matter was referred to county police and “the member” was both removed from all operations and barred from department access and privileges.
The chief said he was limited in what he could say of the ongoing investigation but told a reporter that the company is cooperating with police and committed to transparency.
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