A former Indiana police officer was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old runaway after tracking her phone and forcing her into his squad car while on duty, according to authorities and reports.
Sinmi Asomuyide, a 33-year-old ex-Kokomo Police Department officer, was handed the guilty verdict after a five-day trial on charges that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl and lied to investigators to cover up the heinous act, the US Department of Justice announced on Friday.
Asomuyide first met the victim while tasked with following up on a runaway 14-year-old girl as a probationary officer, Fox59 reported.
The teen told investigators that one time when she ran away, the creepy cop picked her up and brought her to a local youth center. But he instead kept the vehicle parked in the parking lot and asked her inappropriate questions, the outlet reported.
After dropping the girl off at her home and exchanging numbers with her, she said Asomuyide tracked her phone and followed her to her house to demand she leave with him.
The officer handcuffed her, forced her into his squad car, and brought her to an abandoned parking lot, where he sexually assaulted her, the victim told investigators.
The federal jury found Asomuyide guilty of deprivation of rights for denying the teen her “constitutional rights by sexually assaulting her,” prosecutors said.
The jury also found that the cops’ conduct “included kidnapping and abusive sexual contact of a child under the age of 16.”
Asomuyide was also found guilty of witness tampering for lying to the Indiana State Police by denying he ever had sexual contact with the teen and lying about other corroborating evidence, officials said.
He continued to cover up the act by deleting a messaging app he used to communicate with the girl before sexually assaulting her, the jury found.
Asomuyide faces a maximum sentence of life behind bars.
“The defendant used his position of trust and the appearance of assistance to isolate and assault a child, then took steps to obstruct the investigation by destroying records and lying to law enforcement,” Special Agent in Charge Timothy J O’Malley of the FBI Indianapolis Field Office said in a statement.
“These actions reflect a complete disregard for the law, the victim, and the public trust,” O’Malley said.
“The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue justice for victims and hold offenders fully accountable.”
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