A former police officer from West Virginia has pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights offense for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl.
According to a press release by the Justice Department, Christopher Osborne, 26, from West Virginia violated the civil rights of a 16-year-old female by raping her with force in a bunk room at the Danville Fire Department.
“The defendant abused his official authority and position of power to perpetrate a violent sexual assault on a 16-year-old girl,” Assistant Attorney General, Kristen Clarke, according to the June 2 release. “Officials who carry out sexual assaults will be held accountable.”
When the crime was committed, Osborne was a police officer at Marmet Police Department and a firefighter with the Charleston Fire Department and the Danville Volunteer Fire Department, the release stated. He abused his position of power and status of being a firefighter when raping the victim, authorities said.
Osborne admitted that the victim denied his sexual advances, but he held her down in the fire station bunk room while sexually assaulting her, causing her pain and bodily injury.
“The facts of this case are troubling,” Special Agent in Charge, Mike Nordwall said, in the release. “No one is not above the law. As a public servant, Osborne violated his oath and victimized those he swore to protect. The FBI will not look the other way.”
With his guilty plea, Osborne faces a maximum of 14 years in prison, a maximum of five years of supervised release and a requirement to register as a sex offender per the Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
“As the plea in this case demonstrates, Osborne used his official authority to commit a violent sexual assault on a 16-year-old victim,” Acting U.S. Attorney, Lisa Johnston said, in the release. “Osborne’s unlawful conduct constitutes a clear deprivation of the minor’s civil rights. Such an egregious abuse of power will not be tolerated. We continue to work with our law enforcement partners to stand up for victims of such crimes. I want to thank the FBI, the West Virginia State Police, and the West Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office for their outstanding investigative efforts in this case.”
A sentencing date has been set for July 13; the release stated.
Investigators assigned to the case came from the Pittsburgh Division of the FBI with the backing of the West Virginia State Police and the West Virginia State Fire Marshals. Prosecutors on the case include Trial Attorney, Kathryn E. Gilbert, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Jennifer Rada Herrald, and Julie White, for the Southern District of West Virginia.
