Unidentified former Virginia police officer is convicted of a rape in his patrol car
A 17-year-old girl was involuntarily sexually assaulted in 2019, after a Virginia police officer followed her home in his patrol car while on duty. Cleshaun A. Cox, 31, spent around 4.5 years in state custody and has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Now, Cox faces sentencing in federal prison after having previously pleaded guilty in state court. He was initially sentenced to five years in state prison in relation to the rape case, although the prosecutors argued for a 20-year sentence, as the assault occurred while he was on duty for the Portsmouth Police Department.
“This case is astonishingly horrifying and represents a shocking breach of public trust,” said Jessica D. Aber, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The severe and reprehensible impact that he has caused the victim and the community at large is immeasurable, but we hope that this resolution can bring some measure of comfort and closure to those affected.”
Federal public defender Suzanne Katchmar, who represented Cox, declined to comment on the case. The event occurred in May 2019, when the police officers responded to a noise complaint.
Cox pursued the young girl in his marked patrol car after the incident, and he later activated his vehicle’s blue police lights before coercing the teenager into sexual acts not to give her a ticket. The victim immediately reported the crime, and Cox lied to Portsmouth police detectives about the circumstances of the rape.
Just as the attorney’s office emphasized that the former officer repeatedly reminded the victim of his power over her, it has secured a conviction against the ex-officer. Cox faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, having only requested his sentence be at least that long.
This story of betrayal and breach of trust sheds light on the importance of public trust in law enforcement and the pressing need for stringent punishment for those who abuse their authority for ill purposes. The reverberations of such crimes are far-reaching and long-lasting.
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