HoCo Liquor Store Customer Sexually Assaulted By Clerk: Police

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — A 42-year-old Silver Spring man has been charged with third- and fourth-degree sex offenses and solicitation of prostitution after Howard County police say he sexually assaulted a woman on Christmas Eve in the liquor store where he worked. A 23-year-old woman reported to police that she was sexually assaulted by a store clerk, later identified as Mohan Prasad, at JJ Liquors in Ellicott City.

According to a Howard County police report, Prasad was alone in the store and engaged the victim in small talk about the store’s inventory and then invited her to accompany him to a walk-in cooler for samples. Prasad then began to sexually assault the victim and offered her money to perform sex acts, which she refused. When the victim tried to leave, he continued to sexually assault her, according to a police report.

Detectives confirmed the events of the report through a security video and physical evidence obtained at the scene. The store management immediately fired Prasad upon learning of the incident and has been cooperating with police, the department noted. Prasad has been released from the Howard County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond.

Howard County police detectives are asking for the public’s help to determine if anyone else may have been victimized by Prasad. They are asking anyone with information to contact police at 410-313-STOP or email HCPDcrimetips@howardcountymd.gov.