FORT WORTH — Lawyers for a police officer accused of sexually assaulting a woman told the jury that the woman is pursuing a lawsuit stemming from her allegations of criminal sexual assault to help her get out of debt.
The woman, who is not being named because she says she is a victim of sexual assault, said Bobby Lynn Beasley, a Dalworthington Gardens police sergeant, put his hand between her legs while he was giving her a ride home from the Dalworthington Gardens Jail. Beasley, 51, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count of sexual assault and could face 20 years in prison if convicted in state District Judge George Gallagher’s court.
Terri Moore, who is defending Beasley with help from attorney Michael Ware, told the jury that the woman owes more than $8,000 in delinquent traffic tickets to the city of Fort Worth. The woman, who has hired a civil attorney and filed a lawsuit, is a 34-year-old unemployed single mother with two children, 11 and 16, Moore said.
“She cried rape and is ruining this police officer’s life in order to get out of debt,” Moore said. “She owes debt that she cannot get out from under when you’re a single mom.”
Although the woman denies filing the lawsuit, Tarrant County district clerk records show that the lawsuit is active. Moore also presented cellphone records indicating that Beasley and his accuser sent text messages to each other for at least three days after she left the Dalworthington Gardens Jail.
The police officer’s accuser denies sending any texts to Beasley.
The incident that led to the lawsuit and criminal case allegedly occurred in December 2010 when Beasley went to serve an arrest warrant on the woman, who had outstanding traffic citations, according to Fort Worth police who investigated the case.
According to a police affidavit, Beasley was wearing civilian clothing but had his badge and gun in plain view when he drove to the woman's house in Fort Worth to arrest her. While driving her to the jail in Dalworthington Gardens, Beasley reportedly told her that he would help her and offered to drive her home.
The woman said Beasley touched her inappropriately while they were driving back to Fort Worth, according to police.
“His whole right hand touches my thigh,” the woman told the jury Tuesday. “He massaged his way up to my private area.”
The woman said she did not report the incident until April because her family told her no one would believe her because she is black and Beasley is white, the affidavit says.
David Hagerman, who is prosecuting the case with Heather Davenport, asked the woman what she was thinking while Beasley was touching her inappropriately.
“I was scared,” she told the jury.
Beasley was a member of the Dalworthington Gardens Police Department for three years and was assigned to the warrant division. Before that, he had been with the Bedford Police Department for 26 years.
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