Saturday, October 12, 2013

police officer charged on alleged sexual misconduct

A Colville police officer was charged Friday with seven criminal counts, including four felonies, stemming from a string of alleged sexual encounters with women while in uniform dating back to 2011.

Rex Newport, 45, has been formally accused of first-degree burglary and unlawful imprisonment, custodial sexual misconduct and making false or misleading statements to a public servant, according to documents filed in Stevens County Superior Court on Friday afternoon. Knowledge of Newport’s behavior came to the attention of authorities after a woman claimed she’d been sexually assaulted by the 15-year veteran of the Colville police force at her apartment in March.

According to court documents, the woman alleges Newport entered her apartment after she returned home from a night of drinking at a Colville bar. Newport drank some of her alcohol, then left on a radio call for another incident, according to allegations made in the court documents. The woman said Newport later returned, handcuffed her and raped her, court documents say.

Newport told investigators, who were also looking into claims the officer took off his gun belt and put it around the woman, that the claims were a “hundred percent nonsense,” according to court records.

DNA taken from the scene places Newport in the woman’s apartment and indicates sexual contact, according to court records.

Evidence collected during the investigation indicate a pattern in which Newport would contact intoxicated women coming home from bars. Multiple women claimed Newport pulled them over for what appeared to be stops for driving under the influence. He then had sex with them, they say, and the DUI claims were never investigated.

The Stevens County Sheriff’s Office and FBI collaborated in the investigation. One woman claimed that after the sexual contact, Newport continued to send her unwanted and sexually explicit text messages.

Newport has denied the allegations made against him. He remains on administrative leave from the Colville Police Department.

A pilot who made an emergency landing at a municipal airport runway has also sued Newport and the city for alleged use of excessive force, according to previous reporting.

The burglary and unlawful imprisonment charges carry firearm enhancements because Newport was armed with a service handgun at the time of the alleged crime. The charges hold potential maximum sentences ranging from a year to life in prison.