Ruling could free Md. child rapist

A federal judge has ruled that a former teacher convicted of raping one of his students in the mid-1970s should be offered a plea deal that would get him out of prison.

Baltimore prosecutors, however, are vowing to keep John Merzbacher behind bars, and the Maryland attorney general's office says it will appeal the ruling.

The judge on Friday ruled that Merzbacher had ineffective counsel because he wasn't given a chance to accept a 10-year plea deal in 1994. The ruling requires a Baltimore judge to agree to the deal.

Merzbacher taught at the Catholic Community School in Baltimore. He was accused of molesting more than a dozen children, but those charges were dropped when he was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to four life terms.
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Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com