Two charged in Maryland for alleged Johns Hopkins frat rape

(Reuters) - Two Baltimore-area men have been charged with raping a teenage girl at an off-campus Johns Hopkins University fraternity, a police spokesman said on Wednesday. College sexual assault has drawn national attention since a Rolling Stone magazine article last month detailing an alleged 2012 gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity. In the Johns Hopkins case, Baltimore police charged Chaz Haggins, 20, and Ethan Turner, 19, with rape and sexual offenses involving a 16-year-old girl on Nov. 2. The victim told police she was forced to perform sex acts and was later raped by the two men during a party at the off-campus Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, according to charging documents. The victim had been drinking and had a blood alcohol level of 0.11 when taken for treatment at a hospital, the spokesman said. Legal intoxication in Maryland is a blood alcohol level from 0.04 to 0.08. In a statement, Johns Hopkins said the two suspects and the victim were not students at the school. The university has launched an investigation and has placed the fraternity on suspension for underaged drinking and several other violations stemming from that night's party, it said. "We also have been working with the leadership of all Johns Hopkins fraternities to implement their interim plan for enhancing the safety and well-being of attendees at their social events," the school said in a statement. Haggins and Turner face charges of rape, sexual offenses, conspiracy and assault. They are being held without bail, and a preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 17. Calls to their attorneys seeking comment were not returned. (Reporting by John Clarke in Washington; Editing by Ian Simpson and Peter Cooney)