A misdemeanor assault charge against state Del. Caylin Young has been dropped, closing a closely watched New Year’s Day case that had already pushed the Baltimore lawmaker out of a city job but not out of office.
A Baltimore City district judge on Monday accepted a prosecutor’s decision to dismiss the case against Young, who represents northeast Baltimore in the Maryland House of Delegates. The charge stemmed from an incident reported shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day in the Federal Hill neighborhood. Young resigned from his role in the city’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights after the allegation surfaced, but has remained in his elected seat.
According to The Daily Record, the prosecutor handling the case, who was brought in from Baltimore County because of a conflict of interest, told the court there was not enough evidence to move forward. The judge agreed and dismissed the single count of second‑degree assault.
Defense and court proceedings
Young’s legal team had been gearing up for a full trial, according to his attorney Robbie Leonard, who spoke with WMAR‑2 News. Leonard said the defense was prepared to contest the allegation in open court and thanked prosecutors for taking another hard look at the evidence.
Leonard pointed to the transcript from the final protective‑order hearing in the case, where Young prevailed, and said the team was “grateful” the prosecutor used their discretion to drop the charge. As WMAR‑2 News reported, the defense maintained it welcomed the opportunity to clear Young’s name.
Past allegations and protective orders
The latest dismissal is the third time second‑degree assault charges connected to Young have been dropped, according to The Daily Record. The outlet reports that in 2023, a different complainant accused Young of pushing the mother of his child into a wall and handling the baby in a way that allegedly left bruises on both the woman and the infant.
In the Jan. 1 case, court documents show the accuser obtained two temporary protective orders but did not secure a final protective order.
What this means for his role
Young was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2022 and still holds that seat, according to the Maryland General Assembly. He stepped down from his deputy position at the Baltimore City Office of Equity and Civil Rights shortly after the criminal charge was filed, as reported by WMAR‑2 News.
With the misdemeanor now dismissed, the criminal case is closed for the moment, even as the underlying allegations remain part of the public record. Young has denied the accusation, and his lawyer reiterated that the defense welcomed the chance to contest it in court. How voters and colleagues choose to respond will play out as the legislative session moves on.
