A Kentucky police officer has been charged after it was revealed that he coerced a rape victim into giving him oral sex last September after offering to drive her home.
Hillview Police Department Detective John W. Nissen has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of theft by deception, tampering with a witness and official misconduct, according to WLKY in Louisville. He has been suspended.
According to the Atlanta Constitution Journal, the woman came into the police station to file a formal complaint about an alleged assault by another police officer in a different jurisdiction. Once she was done giving her statement, Nissen offered to drive her home. Instead, he drove her to the home of her alleged rapist.
Nissen then pooled money with the alleged rapist to buy the victim a phone at Walmart. Then Nissen drove her to a motel where he demanded her to perform oral sex in a room he paid for. After the sexual encounter, he told her to move away.
The prosecutor said evidence indicated that the woman was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident.
Hillview Police Chief William Mahoney III said in a statement that department officials “became concerned” about the allegations and turned the investigation over to the Kentucky State Police, whose investigators, in turn, gave their findings to Shelly Alvey, the commonwealth attorney for Bullitt County.
“The Hillview Police Department and our officers have worked incredibly hard to be an agency that people of this community can look up to,” Mahoney wrote. “We hold our officers to a very high standard and hold them accountable for their actions.
“If the allegations against Detective Nissen are found to be true, you can be assured that we will handle the matter appropriately. The alleged behavior is most definitely not in line with the values of our agency.”