WHITE PLAINS, Md. – On Tuesday, August 13th, 2024, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) released a statement detailing the case history of alleged violent offender Jordan Keith Proctor, and highlighting that a Charles County judge had released Mr. Proctor pending trial on the serious, violent charges. Proctor, after his arrest on August 9th, 2024, was charged with first-degree rape, first-degree assault, false imprisonment, and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime among other related charges.
On August 12, Mr. Proctor was released from the Charles County Detention Center after a judge ordered it with the electronic monitoring device, and allowed him to return to his home pending trial, the same location where the alleged violent incident took place against a house cleaner who was working in the home. Although the CCSO statement did not name the judge, it has been widely reported on social media and verified by the BayNet that the judge in the case was allegedly Judge Kenneth A. Talley, an associate judge in Charles County District Court (District 4).
Judge Talley is well known in the community, previously serving as an assistant state’s attorney in the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office, and as a public defender in Charles County. In addition to these posts, he worked as a lawyer in private practice for a time at Don Ansell & Associates, and later was a partner at the firm Collins & Talley. His partner in that firm, Charles County Commissioner President Rueben B. Collins, II spoke highly of Charles County’s first African-American Judge in published media reports in 2011, as Talley ascended to the District Court Judge position he holds today, citing his strong character and history as a brilliant litigator. Judge Talley also reportedly previously served on the board of The Jude House, a local non-profit dedicated to helping addicts in recovery, as well as participating in mock trial programs for local schools.
However, in the wake of the decision to release Jordan Keith Proctor to home confinement after being charged with the violent sexual assault, both the CCSO and the State’s Attorney’s Office released statements critical of the decision, which has had the effect of provoking a large backlash on social media and in conversations all around Charles County since Tuesday. In local online communities, comments from frightened and disappointed residents numbered in the hundreds in multiple forums, and the backlash has led to an online petition to call for the removal of Judge Talley.
The petition, written and publicized by La Plata resident Tiffany McCaslin, alleges that this decision by the judge is not the first time a dangerous violent offender has been released into the community pending trial. The petition calls for the Judicial Disabilities Commission to investigate the extent to which individuals released by Judge Talley have re-offended or failed to appear in court during their pre-trial release. The impact of these decisions on public safety, including the effects on the victims of crimes committed by those released, and Whether Judge Talley’s pattern of decisions aligns with the legal and ethical standards expected of a member of the judiciary.
Ms. McCaslin, a mother of 3, and a resident of Charles County for only a few years, told the BayNet that she moved to this community to raise her family in this rural county because it was different, far from these kinds of issues in the DC Metro area. She works in health care as a consultant, and has a career that includes some public policy work. It was her passion for keeping this community safe for her family that drove her to look further into the issue after hearing of the controversy. “This is ridiculous,” said McCaslin, “I’m a single mom, I have three daughters, and I live here and I care about the safety of this county and my children…why is this person not in jail? He’s obviously demonstrated that he’s a threat to society, a threat to women.” After writing the petition and posting it online, she described getting some messages that accused her racist motivations for taking up the issue with the judge.
According to McCaslin, nothing could be further from the truth. “Judge Talley should be ashamed of himself, he’s not doing his job to the standard that the community expects of him…and I’m not sure he appreciates who he’s working for, it’s certainly not the people who live here and pay taxes” she said. “I didn’t even know his race before I posted the petition,” she continued. “I’m not from Charles County originally, I don’t know this man, I have no personal interaction with him.”
Public records do indicate that a pattern of this sort of questionable release of violent offenders pre-trial may allegedly be a bit of a trend with Judge Talley. In a minimum of two previous cases in recent memory, the judge made similar decisions to release violent offenders before trial. In the case of D’andre Curtis, who was arrested for possession of a loaded firearm, drugs, and a scale in 2021, the defendant was released pre-trial by Judge Talley despite a previous assault charge in 2020, in a reversal of the initial decision by a District Court Commissioner, who held the suspect without bond. In another 2022 case, a suspect named Collin Hoffler was released by Judge Talley pre-trial despite his previous felony conviction, even though the 2022 arrest included being caught with heavy guns, several drug types, distribution materials, and extended magazines and numerous ammo boxes.
These previous cases, along with the current release of Jordan Keith Proctor, on the violent rape charge pending trial, do raise questions that officials are not speaking to when asked by The BayNet. The CCSO had nothing to add to their public statement when asked to comment Thursday; also declining to characterize the mood of the rank and file officers in the Sheriff’s department, but the frustration with the courts seeming inability to keep dangerous violent suspects in jail pending trial was palpable in every officer and public spokesperson that declined comment. The State’s Attorney’s office would not comment beyond their public statements as it was an ongoing case, and referred us to the Public Information Office for the Maryland Courts, who also declined comment citing the ongoing prosecution of the case.
In the Proctor case, it is alleged that the search of the suspect’s house after arrest yielded the firearm, the handcuffs, and plenty of evidence to support the charge of first degree rape, kidnapping, false imprisonment, use of a firearm during a violent incident and other serious crimes. As it stands today, Mr. Proctor is in home confinement with electronic monitoringin the same White Plains home he allegedly assaulted the cleaning lady in last week, leaving her with devastating injuries including a reported fractured jaw. There appears little recourse for citizens in the short term, besides signing the petition, until the next scheduled event In the prosecution of Proctor, which is set for a Preliminary Hearing in District Courtroom 3 on September 10 at 9:00 am.
This is a developing story, and the BayNet is actively pursuing more information.
Contact Sean@theBayNet.com with any information citizens feel the public should know.
Contact our news desk at news@thebaynet.com
