# Woman accuses Boston police officer of sexual assault



## MCLEA (Jul 23, 2004)

Woman accuses Boston police officer of sexual assault
Official confirms investigation by department
By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff | July 31, 2005

A Boston police officer is under investigation after a woman he met during a paid detail at a Faneuil Hall bar claimed that she passed out and then awoke to find him sexually assaulting her, a law enforcement official said yesterday.

A Boston police spokeswoman would say last night only that an incident involving an officer was ''under investigation." But a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said that a woman has accused a 32-year-old officer of sexually assaulting her in an unmarked police cruiser.

No charges have been filed regarding the allegations.

According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the incident occurred July 17 after the officer had finished working a paid security detail at the Purple Shamrock, a bar and nightclub on Union Street.

The woman has said that the officer offered her a ride home in his unmarked cruiser after the bar closed and then sexually assaulted her after she passed out, the official said.

The officer has insisted that any contact between himself and the woman was consensual, the official said.

The officer, an eight-year veteran of the department who works as a drug investigator, declined to comment on the specifics of the case when reached by telephone at his home last night.

He confirmed that he has been assigned to administrative duties while the incident is being investigated. The officer said he hoped the public would wait for the results of the investigation before drawing any conclusions and remember that on both sides, there are ''human feelings involved."

He said he was distraught by the allegations.

''I'm doing terrible," the officer said from his Dorchester home last night. ''Just trying to deal with it the best I can."

Suffolk prosecutors are expected to meet this week with the victim and with Boston police detectives assigned to the case, the official said.


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