Oregon Cop Resigns for On-Duty Sexual Abuse
An 18-year veteran Oregon police officer has resigned amid allegations that he sexually abused a woman while on duty in 2013.
In June, 2014, a woman disclosed during a treatment program that she had been sexually assaulted by Forest Grove Police Department Sergeant Wayne Hart, an 18-year veteran of the department. She alleged that she felt coerced into performing oral sex on Hart when they were looking for her missing boyfriend in July 2013.
Hart was placed on paid administrative leave on July 28, 2014. He denied the woman's allegations and the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute in October 2014, calling the case a he-said-she-said situation.
Hart remained on paid administrative leave for eight months while the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office conducted an internal investigation into whether he committed policy violations related to the woman's allegations. Forest Grove Police Department spokesman Captain Mike Herb declined to discuss the investigation findings.
Herb acknowledged, however, that Hart resigned from the department on April 1, 2015. His resignation was part of settlement agreement, according to Eriks Gabliks, director of the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. The department, which is responsible for Oregon law enforcement certifications, will investigate the Hart case, said Gabliks. The Clackamas County District Attorney's Office has not indicated whether it is reconsidering the decision not to bring charges against Hart.
Source:The Oregonian/OregonLive
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