Post by WaTcHeR on Mar 29, 2006 10:16:02 GMT -5
Officer William Robert Taylor
03/29/2006 - EL CAJON – Several women arrested by an El Cajon police officer for petty crimes said they were subjected to sexually charged comments, forced to disrobe or made to perform sex acts in exchange for their freedom, according to court documents released yesterday.
The documents outline a pattern of alleged sexual misconduct in which El Cajon police officer William Robert Taylor propositioned some of the women he arrested by repeatedly asking them what they were willing to do to avoid jail.
In one instance detailed in a Feb. 3 arrest warrant, a woman Taylor detained for petty theft in September 2005 at an El Cajon department store told police that Taylor forced her to disrobe and perform a sex act in the back seat of his patrol car while he stood outside and watched.
The woman told police that she believed “she had no option but to comply” with Taylor's demands because of his demeanor and the tone of his questioning and because he had put her in the back seat of his patrol car, the warrant said.
Taylor later admitted to investigators that the woman had disrobed and performed a sex act in his patrol car but insisted that she acted on her own without any provocation, according to the warrant.
In another incident, a woman Taylor detained for petty theft and possession of a marijuana plant in May 2005 said Taylor told her that if she removed her clothes and had sex with him he would not take her to jail, according to the arrest warrant.
The woman said she refused to have sex with Taylor but agreed to undress, according to the warrant. She told police that Taylor “stood looking at her saying she had a good body and she should show it off more,” the warrant said.
Taylor, 26, is charged with several counts of rape by a foreign object under color of authority, sexual battery, attempted dissuasion of a witness and bribery. The formal complaint lists six victims.
Police in court documents said they have contacted “more than 300 potential victims” and were seeking nearly 50 others.
The potential victims include every woman who had contact with Taylor, El Cajon Police Sgt. Charles Merino said in court documents. He said police are investigating Taylor's actions dating to 2003.
Taylor, a police officer for three years, is free on $250,000 bail after pleading not guilty March 9. He was placed on unpaid administrative leave soon after his arrest in February. If convicted, Taylor faces a maximum penalty of 14 years and eight months in prison.
In a prepared statement yesterday, Taylor's lawyer Alec Rose asked that “the public keep an open mind” over the allegations contained in the court documents.
“William Taylor denies all of the charges against him,” Rose said in the statement. “We are confident that his plea of not guilty will prevail when this case is tried and he looks forward to his vindication in court. All we ask is for the opportunity to have a fair trial.”
Arrest and search warrants obtained by El Cajon police investigating the complaints against Taylor were released yesterday by Superior Court Judge Herbert J. Exarhos as a result of a motion by The San Diego Union-Tribune and three television stations.
According to the documents, police began investigating Taylor in November when a woman complained of how Taylor had treated her after arresting her.
During a December interview, Taylor told investigators that he had been propositioned by two other women he had contacted while on duty.
The women told investigators that Taylor had repeatedly asked them what they would do to avoid jail.
One woman told investigators that she offered to perform a sex act “out of frustration” after repeated questioning by Taylor behind a downtown El Cajon supermarket in September 2005. Taylor seemed to consider her offer but didn't take her up on it, according to the arrest warrant.
The other woman said Taylor made sexually suggestive comments to her in February 2004, saying she was “well-proportioned upstairs” and suggested that she should contact him when she returned from a trip to Arizona.
