Cop followed teen home after noise complaint, then raped her in police car, feds say
An on-duty Virginia police officer kidnapped and raped a 17-year-old high school student in his patrol car after responding to a noise complaint involving her and her friend, federal prosecutors said.
A fellow officer who also responded to the noise complaint — and who told the teenager to drive home — was unaware Cleshaun Cox followed her in his marked Portsmouth Police Department car the evening of May 27, 2019, and assaulted her, according to federal prosecutors.
Now Cox, 31, is facing at least 15 years and up to 20 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced in a July 14 news release. He’s no longer a police officer.
He pleaded guilty on July 14 to violating the teen’s civil rights “by forcibly sexually assaulting her,” according to prosecutors and court documents.
Federal public defender Suzanne Katchmar, who represents Cox, declined a request for comment from McClatchy News on July 17.
In August 2021, Cox pleaded guilty to state charges of carnal knowledge and abduction in Portsmouth Circuit Court, the release said. He was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison before the court suspended 10 years of his sentence, according to officials.
He’s currently detained in Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk, state Department of Corrections records show.
How the case unfolded
On May 27, 2019, Cox and a senior officer were called to a parking lot in Portsmouth for a noise complaint and found the 17-year-old inside her car with a friend, who’s described as a witness, a statement of facts filed in court says.
Cox knew the teen was a minor from a review of her driver’s license, according to the statement of facts, which says Cox later lied to detectives and said she was 18.
Afterward, the other officer told the teen to head home, as she hadn’t broken any laws except the city’s curfew for minors that was in place at the time, according to prosecutors.
When she did so, with her friend in the passenger seat, they noticed a Portsmouth Police Department car following them, the statement of facts says.
The teen stopped at a gas station and Cox pulled up behind them, activating his vehicle’s blue police lights, according to the statement of facts.
Then, Cox started threatening to ticket the 17-year-old for “numerous minor offenses, including issues with her headlights” because “he wanted to coerce her into sexual acts with him,” the statement of facts says.
He told the teen to drive her friend home before returning home herself, according to the statement of facts.
However, when the teen dropped her friend off, Cox told her to drive to a parking lot instead of her house, prosecutors said.
She complied with Cox’s demands and drove to the parking lot, where he threatened to ticket her unless she agreed to a “deal” involving performing sex acts with him, the statement of facts says.
The teen told Cox she didn’t want to “engage in any sexual acts” with him before he coerced her to get inside his police car, according to the statement of facts.
She did so because she “feared (Cox) and believed that she had no choice but to comply,” the statement of facts says.
Afterward, Cox drove her to an isolated location and raped her, according to prosecutors.
Following the assault, he lied about following the teen home and raping her during his voluntary interview with detectives on May 27, the statement of facts says.
Cox was arrested on state charges that day — shocking his family members, according to a May 28, 2019, report by WTKR.
His mother told the TV station Cox had served with the police department for more than a year before his arrest and was a preacher at Word Cathedral Worship Center in Virginia Beach.
Cox’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 28, according to prosecutors.
“Our sworn police officers have a duty to uphold the constitution and are entrusted with protecting the safety and quality of life of the communities they serve,” Brian Dugan, FBI special agent in charge of the agency’s Norfolk Field Office, said in a statement “Cleshaun Cox broke that trust when he, while acting under color of law, physically assaulted a teenage girl and violated her rights to bodily integrity.”
This story was originally published July 17, 2023 at 11:16 AM with the headline "Cop followed teen home after noise complaint, then raped her in police car, feds say."
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