Ex-New Chicago cop charged with sexual assault while on force

A former New Chicago cop faces felony rape charges after a woman accused him of forcing her to perform a sex act on him in the police station’s basement while he was on duty.

“This is between you and I, no one is going to believe you,” he allegedly told her.

William C. Mulcahy, 39, of Cedar Lake, was allowed to quit the police force several weeks later on Oct. 3, 2020, according to court documents. He became a police officer in 2018.

Mulcahy was one of the responding police officers after the woman and her fiance had a fight in May 2019. After that, he began to call and text her frequently, documents said. The woman played along to “appease” him, court documents alleged.

The woman went to the police station in September 2019 after she crashed her car. There, Mulcahy showed up with another officer. She accused him of rubbing his body against her twice that day — once outside the police station and again when he went back as she collected belongings at her fiance’s house to leave, documents said.

Police later arrested her after a gas station clerk thought she had stolen some merchandise, documents said.

Sometime between Sept. 1 and Oct. 3, 2020, Mulcahy told her to come to the police station to “talk” about the case. He told her to park out of sight, near a garage door, then led her to a downstairs meeting room, charges state. Mulcahy was wearing his police uniform, with a belt and gun.

Within two minutes, Mulcahy forced the woman to perform a sex act on him, the affidavit alleges. She was afraid he would “plant evidence” on her fiance if she refused, charges state.

He was “working on getting rid of (your fiance) for you,” Mulcahy said.

She felt she couldn’t run, because he would handcuff her or afraid he would “plant (evidence) on her,” documents said.

New Chicago Police Chief Bill Perry told an Indiana State Police detective that the room was only used for city council meetings, but was out of commission mostly during the pandemic and closed to the public.

There was no reason for Mulcahy to take her there, he said.

Mulcahy was charged Wednesday with two counts each of rape, criminal confinement and sexual battery, and one count of official misconduct.

In an unrelated case, he was also charged Wednesday after police found several pieces of evidence missing during his time as a police officer.

A review by the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office found evidence missing from eight of his 30 cases, mostly drunken driving or low-level drug arrests. Of those, 19 had never been forwarded to the Prosecutor’s office for review to see if charges would be filed.

In one case, Mulcahy arrested a man, taking several jars of marijuana, a North Face backpack, iPhone, a handgun and a wallet with $123, which went missing at the police station, court documents state. The man said he was never charged or got any of it back.

Mulcahy was charged with obstruction of justice, official misconduct and theft.