Marion Pearson, 67, of Durham, NC, pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and second-degree sexual assault for attacks on two victims in 1981 and faces up to 17 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for December 19. Pearson was linked to the crimes through DNA testing by the Montgomery County Police Cold Case Unit.
Per the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office: “In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the Honorable Rachel McGuckian, defendant, Marion Pearson, 67, of Durham, NC, pleaded guilty today to second-degree rape and second-degree sex assault for attacks on two victims in April and June of 1981.
Per a plea agreement Pearson faces up to 17 years of executed prison time. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 19, 2024.
In March of 2022, detectives with the Montgomery County Police Cold Case Unit identified an open rape case from April 1981 and submitted evidence collected from the rape to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) for additional testing. A search of the FBI’s National DNA Index System (NDIS) connected the DNA to Pearson.
Pearson served 22-years in a North Carolina prison for a series of first-degree rapes and was released in 2020. He previously lived in Prince George’s County, MD, and had been arrested several times for assault, indecent exposure, and peeping-tom, between 1980 and 1999.
Assistant State’s Attorneys Mary Herdman and Thea Zumwalt are prosecuting this case.
“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,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.”