Post by ARod on Jul 21, 2005 10:10:16 GMT -5
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
FIU police officer charged in sex assault
Miami-Dade police charged an FIU police officer with sexual battery for an alleged attack on a woman while on duty.
BY ROBERT L. STEINBACK
rsteinback@herald.com
A Florida International University police officer who was relieved of duty two weeks ago after an 18-year-old woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in Tamiami Park adjacent to the school's campus was arrested and charged Wednesday by the Miami-Dade Police Department's sexual crimes bureau.
Frederick Eugene Currie, 35, of Homestead, faces one count of sexual battery and one count of battery. He was booked into the county's Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on $500,000 bond, and was still there Wednesday night, according to corrections spokeswoman Janelle Hall.
The alleged victim was not a university student or employee.
As of Wednesday, Currie was on administrative leave with pay from his university job in conformance with state law, said FIU spokesman Mark Riordan. Riordan was uncertain whether the arrest would change Currie's status, but said the university could not proceed with its own disciplinary review until the criminal case is concluded.
''We are continuing to cooperate with the Miami-Dade Police Department in their investigation and with the state attorney's office as they move the judicial process forward,'' Riordan said Wednesday evening. ``At the conclusion of that process, we will begin our internal affairs investigation.''
The alleged assault took place around 2 a.m. July 8 while Currie was on duty at FIU's University Park Campus on Southwest 107th Avenue in West Miami-Dade. According to Miami-Dade police, the victim and her boyfriend were in a parked vehicle in the park a short distance from the campus grounds. Currie went to inspect the car.
During that check, Currie allegedly compelled the victim to get out of the car, and then assaulted her.
Afterward, the victim called Miami-Dade police, who contacted the campus police department. Supervisors called Currie in and relieved him of duty that morning before his shift ended.
Currie's arrest is the latest difficulty in a troubled nine-year career with the FIU police. He was arrested three times on domestic violence charges for off-campus, off-duty incidents involving a girlfriend, an ex-wife and his child. The university fired him twice in response, FIU officials have said.
The charges were subsequently dropped -- once, when Currie agreed to submit to domestic violence treatment. In 1999, he was acquitted of charges he beat the child.
Twice Currie appealed his termination and won reinstatement.
FIU officials discovered after his second arrest that Currie also had been accused of domestic violence while he was in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining the department. He also has a reprimand on his school record.
FIU police officer charged in sex assault
Miami-Dade police charged an FIU police officer with sexual battery for an alleged attack on a woman while on duty.
BY ROBERT L. STEINBACK
rsteinback@herald.com
A Florida International University police officer who was relieved of duty two weeks ago after an 18-year-old woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in Tamiami Park adjacent to the school's campus was arrested and charged Wednesday by the Miami-Dade Police Department's sexual crimes bureau.
Frederick Eugene Currie, 35, of Homestead, faces one count of sexual battery and one count of battery. He was booked into the county's Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on $500,000 bond, and was still there Wednesday night, according to corrections spokeswoman Janelle Hall.
The alleged victim was not a university student or employee.
As of Wednesday, Currie was on administrative leave with pay from his university job in conformance with state law, said FIU spokesman Mark Riordan. Riordan was uncertain whether the arrest would change Currie's status, but said the university could not proceed with its own disciplinary review until the criminal case is concluded.
''We are continuing to cooperate with the Miami-Dade Police Department in their investigation and with the state attorney's office as they move the judicial process forward,'' Riordan said Wednesday evening. ``At the conclusion of that process, we will begin our internal affairs investigation.''
The alleged assault took place around 2 a.m. July 8 while Currie was on duty at FIU's University Park Campus on Southwest 107th Avenue in West Miami-Dade. According to Miami-Dade police, the victim and her boyfriend were in a parked vehicle in the park a short distance from the campus grounds. Currie went to inspect the car.
During that check, Currie allegedly compelled the victim to get out of the car, and then assaulted her.
Afterward, the victim called Miami-Dade police, who contacted the campus police department. Supervisors called Currie in and relieved him of duty that morning before his shift ended.
Currie's arrest is the latest difficulty in a troubled nine-year career with the FIU police. He was arrested three times on domestic violence charges for off-campus, off-duty incidents involving a girlfriend, an ex-wife and his child. The university fired him twice in response, FIU officials have said.
The charges were subsequently dropped -- once, when Currie agreed to submit to domestic violence treatment. In 1999, he was acquitted of charges he beat the child.
Twice Currie appealed his termination and won reinstatement.
FIU officials discovered after his second arrest that Currie also had been accused of domestic violence while he was in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining the department. He also has a reprimand on his school record.
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