Ex-cop gets probation for ‘traumatic’ abuse of women

MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> Former Chester Police Officer Roosevelt Turner was sentenced to four years of modified sex offender probation Thursday on two counts of official oppression stemming from a pair of incidents in April 2015, during which female prisoners said he instructed them to show him their vaginas.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Grace said the offenses, both second-degree misdemeanors, amounted to “forced stripping” and were particularly heinous given Turner’s position as an officer.

“Anyone who has their consent violated in any way is traumatized by that, but it is especially traumatic when that force that is taking from you or forcing you do something unlawful is the system itself,” Grace told Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kevin F. Kelly.

“It undermines the legitimacy of the system that you, I and (defense) counsel work in,” Grace continued. “So while it is especially traumatic to its victims, it is something that you, your honor, and I as an assistant district attorney should be more offended by … because this goes to the very heart of what we do every day.”

Kelly convicted Turner on both counts following a nonjury trial last month, but found he was not guilty of a third count of official oppression, indecent assault, criminal solicitation to indecent assault and criminal attempt sexual assault for a separate set of allegations in August 2015.

One of the women involved in the April 9, 2015, incident said at trial that Turner told her, “Let me see something” as she was being processed.

“I started laughing because I thought it was a joke,” the woman said. “He basically just looked at me like, ‘Oh, well I’m not going to fingerprint you until you show me something.’ Then the laugh went out the door, because he had the whole serious face on … like, ‘I’m not playing with you.’ So that didn’t last long and I just got scared right away and I was like – pulled my pants out.”

The woman said she was not wearing underwear and was angry with Turner for making her expose herself. She spent about a week behind bars and Turner contacted her over Facebook upon her release. She said he messaged her, “Thanks for the enjoyable time,” which she took to mean, “Thanks for showing me your vagina.”

Another woman arrested that same day said Turner also ordered her to show him something in the processing room and that she pulled out her pants so he could see the top of her vagina.

“If you don’t do what an officer tells you to do, you get in trouble,” she said. “More trouble than I already was in.”

The woman said Turner also texted her cell phone that night and attempted to meet up with her for a sexual encounter. She said she had given him the number in the course of paperwork and he made a big deal of making sure the number was correct.

Turner denied both allegations on the stand. He claimed the first victim and another prisoner were flashing officers from their cell, “twerking” and calling out that they would perform oral sex on the officers. Turner said that was the “enjoyable time” he referred to in his Facebook message.

Turner said he reached out to the second victim because she had offered to act as a confidential informant in making a drug buy. Turner also claimed he talked with that woman on the phone, but Grace pointed out there was no record of that call. Grace said the language used in texts also did not match up with the scenario of setting up a confidential informant.

Grace characterized each incident Thursday as forced sexual victimization under color of law and asked Kelly to sentence Turner to six to 12 months in prison with three years of sex offender probation.

Defense attorney Nusrat Jahan Rashid argued for a standard-range sentence of county probation, noting Turner had not been convicted of any sexual offenses and the court had not indicated what the misconduct was that it believed Turner to have engaged in.

Rashid pointed to Turner’s strong commitment to his job and city, as well as the outpouring of community support he received, as evidenced by the 30 letters from friends and family that she provided to the court.

She said her client had acknowledged some wrongdoing in flirting with the victims, but questioned if that was enough to send him to prison for three to six months.

Turner, a father of two, also apologized Thursday to the city, his supporters and his family, saying he never wanted to put anyone in jeopardy with his actions.

“I caught myself trying to go above and beyond the call of duty and apparently it was taken wrong and I do apologize,” he said.

Kelly said that he believes Turner does have a sincere commitment to Chester, but found some of his remarks incredible.

He sentenced Turner to two years of intermediate punishment with the first three months to be served on electronic home monitoring and two years of consecutive probation.

Turner will also have to complete a sex offender treatment program and comply with recommendations of the provider, and submit to periodic polygraph testing to ensure that compliance.

He was ordered not to contact the victims, possess pornography or visit any pornographic location such as adult bookstores, and will have to pay $1,000 to the victim compensation program along with restitution to the county for the cost of transporting and housing one of the victims during trial.